Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Journey to Connaught, April 1709 (Author: Samuel Molyneux)
entry 12
Wednesday, ye 28th— We were invited to see an old altar that stands on ye lands of Mucklon34 in ye county of Gallway, as ye proprietor of ye land and ye Irish have been pleas'd to call it. It is compos'd of severall rude unhewn flat stones, one of 12 or 14 foot square, and about 2 foot thick, being layd flat on some others of 8 or 9 foot high, of which there might have been some 15 or 20 supporting ye large one at top clear round, set edgewise on ye ground, so as to leave a hollow within, and make a sort of box of rude stones. It seems to me to have been a Danish burying place of ye same nature with one in a Danes-mount at Knowth, in which was found a rude stone urn35, which I have by me: 'tis now almost so ruin'd that one cannot readily find out its ancient position and figure, ye stones that made ye wall to support ye upper one on 2 sides being entirely ruin'd, broken and carry'd away by ye owner of ye land for building; nay, one of ye corners of ye upper stone is knock'd off, and ye whole, by losing its support, is fallen at one corner to the ground, so that there is but one side left by which one can judge of its true scituation, and even there ye supporting
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stones are plainly struck out of their former posture; but I am assur'd there are some living that remember it formerly standing as I judg'd it to have stood from what yet remains; nay, ye gentleman that shew'd it us, on whose estate it stands, told me it was much as I have describ'd it in his memory, before he broke ye stones for building. This artificiall curiosity is surrounded by as great ones of nature: it stands in ye middle of a naturall cawsey of vast stones, some 20 or 30 foot square, all of one height, about 2 f. from ye earth: between ye stones one may let down a cord 15 or 20 f. down, tho' they are not at 3 inches distances from one another; their surfaces are not plain, but pretty smooth, with great inaequalitys, protuberances, and excavations. There are 3 or 4 of these Cawseys here, which are much of a sort with those at Gallway, describ'd page ye 14th [vide p. 169]. Ye loose stones that lye here about, of which there are a great number confus'dly thrown about ye monument, are every one of them figur'd stones of ye kind describ'd page 7th [vide p. 165]: I gathered up 3 or 4 of them, and brought them away, and might have taken cart loads. One stone I met here, but not of this kind, with shells in't as those at Killeglan; even ye large stones of ye Cawsey themselves have some of them some parts of them of this kind of stone; nay, 2 or 3 we observ'd of about 10 or 12 f. bigness entirely of this composition of flinty veins, as the spots on their surfaces shew'd. Here grow also in ye clefts of ye rocks many herbs, rare, as I am told, and sought for far and near for medicinall uses, so that perhaps a skillfull botanist might find somewhat to employ his curiosity in this place, as well as the Antiquary or other naturalist.