on a collection of antiquities, presented by the shannon commissioners to the museum of the academy

On a Collection of Antiquities, Presented by the Shannon Commissioners to the Museum ofthe AcademyAuthor(s): Richard GriffithSource: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (1836-1869), Vol. 2 (1840 - 1844), pp. 312-316Published by: Royal Irish AcademyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20520141 .

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312

at the yea 890: Sulbmie iic3 mjaothuma, ancopica Clucina mac

nioir, Des.

Thus also in the Annals of Ulster at the sanie year, or

more correctly 891 : Suibne mac meete humai, ancopira, ez:

rcplba oprimur Ctuana mac noir, oolimuir.

To the latter entry, Doctor O'Conor, in his Reruns JHib.

Scriptores, appennds the following note: Suibneua hiunc Annales Anglosaxonici Suifnetltum ap

pellant.-Vide C0iron. Saxon. ad ann. 891, ' Tres Scoti de [libernia, ad Ai:lfredum regem Anglorum venerunt, Dubsla. nus, Maccebetheus, et Mcelinmunus, Swjfneth etiam, precipuus

doctor qui inter Scotos fuit, decessit,'-concordat Eabtis zEthelewerdus, qui tertium appellat-' Magilmunrnenum artibus frondlentem, littera docturn, magestritni insignemn Scotorum.'

Chron. 1L 4, c. 3. Eadem habet Wigorniensis ad ann. 892, et

Mlathivus Flor ilegus, ad ann. 891. [luc etiam referenda stint quw habet Caradocus ad ann. 889, ' Suibnion Cubin Doc

torunm Scotiwe maximus obiit."' Sir James Ware, in his Irish Writers, tells us, that " his

works, and the titles of them, are lost."

Mr. Griffith presented, on the part of the Shannon Com missioners, a collection of antiquities discovered in the Shan non, and gave the following account of the locality and other circumstances attending the discovery.

The object of my present communication is to notice the

discovery of certain ancient arms in an excavation made in

the bed of the river Shannon at the ford of Keelogue, four miles below Banagher, in the King's County.

The ford at Keelogue, and that of Meelick, whicl is im mediately below it, is the first point of the river Shannon which was anciently passable except by boat, above the falls at Killaloe, a distance of thirty British, or nearly twenty-five Irislh miles; and consequently, previously to the construction of roads, and the erection of bridges at Portumna and Ba



313

naglier, this ford must have been the main pass between the northern portion of the county of Clare, and the southern portion of the county of Galway, with the counties of Tip perary, King's County, &c. &c. Hence it is probable that at a former period the ford at Keelogue, which is the shal lowest on the river, and much better than that of Banagher, was the principal point of communication between the dis tricts above enumerated; and even in modern times, in com mon with the passes by the bridges of Banagher, Shaninon Bridge, and Athlone, the defence of the pass at Keelogue and Meelick was considered of sufficient importanice to induce the British Government to erect two towers, mounted with cannon, on the King's County side, to cuard the passes of the river from the west.

The fall of the river Shannon at Keelogue and Meelick amounts to ten feet; and to render the river navigable, the commissioners appointed to direct the improvements of the navigation of the Shannon, have agreed with contractors for the construction of a lock of very large dimensions, a stone

weir to regulate the discharge and the level of the water,

and for the deepening of the river at Keelogue ford, by ex

cavating the bed to the depth of six feet below the present

bottom, so as to give a depth of full seven feet six inches for

navigation when the works shall have been completed. Towards deepening this ford the contractors dammed off

a portion of the river 100 feet in width, and 700 feet in length,

and have commenced an excavation of nearly six feet in

depth; the material to be excavated consisted at the top of

two feet of gravel, loose stone, and sand, aind at the bottom

of four feet of a mass, composed of clay and rolled limestone,

which in some parts was found to be so solid and compact,

that it became necessary to blast it with gunpowder, in

preference to excavating, according to the ordinary system, through detrital matter.

This compound of clay and rolled limestone, an ( ime



314

stone gravel, is similar to that wlhich forms the bed of the Shannon at all the other fords over wlhich bridges have been erected, as at Banagher, Shannon Bridge, Athlone, &c., and these gravel banks in most cases are in connexion with, and in fact form a part of those low, but steep, ridges or h<ills, composed of clay and rolled limestone, which occur so abundantly in the King's, Queen's County, and the counties of Westmeath and Longford, on the east side of the river, and in the counties of Clare, Galway, and Roscommon, on the west. These gravel ridges, or eskers, as they are generally called, usually affect an east and west, or north-west and south-east direction, and consequently cross the river Shannon, whose direction between Athlone and Killaloe is north-east, south west, nearly at right angles; hence the fords, which, particu larly at AthIone, Shannon Bridge, &c., are merely gaps cut through the eskers by the action of the water, run directly across the river, and present sballow, having deep ponds of water on either side, so that when the falls are not consider able, as at the fords of Banagher, Shannon Bridge, &c., the excavation of the bed of the river at the ford will bring the water on both sides to a level, and there will still remain ample depth above for the purposes of navigation.

But to return to Keelogue, I have already menitioned that the upper part of the excavation consisted of two feet of loose stones, gravel, and sand, and the lower part of four feet of a very compact mass, composed of indurated clay and rolled limestone. In excavating in the loose material of which the upper two feet was composed, the labourers found in the shallowest part of the ford, a considerable number of ancient arms, consisting of bronze swords, spears, &c., in excellent preservation, which are similar to those whichl have been frequently discovered in other parts of Ireland; and to wards the lower part of the upper two feet they discovered a great number of stone hatchets, also similar in many respects to those which have beeni so frequently met with in different



315

parts of this country. In regard to the stone hatchets, I would merely observe, that the greater number, which are black, are composed of the siliceous rock called Lydean Stone, which occurs in thin beds, interstratified with the dark gray, impure limestone called Calp, which is abun dant in the neighbourhood of Keelogue and Banagher; but the others, some of which present a bluish gray, and some a yellowish colour, are composed of a subcrystalline, and ap parently igneous porphyritic rock, none of which occurs in the neighbourhood, or possibly in the south of Ireland. Hence it is probable that the latter, which are much more perfectly executed than the black, or those composed of Lydean Stone, were brought from a distance, and probably from a foreign country.

The important and interesting subject for consideration in the antiquities before us is, that they are evidently the relics of very different, and probably distant periods. Owing to the rapidity of the current at Keelogue ford, it is extra ordinary that any comparatively recent deposit should have been formed, and at all events the annual increase must have been inconsiderable; hence, though not more than one foot of silty matter may be found between the stone weapons of a very remote age, and the swords and spears of another period still remote from us, yet under the circumstances de scribed centuries may have intervened between the periods of mortal strife which must have taken place in the river probably between the Leinster men and Connaught men of old, disputing the passage of the river at two distinct and no doubt very distant periods.

I am not sufficiently versed in the ancient Irish history to say whether any records are in existence of a battle having been fought at the fords of Meelick and Keelogue; but if any such exist I have no doubt that many members of the Academy, and lovers of ancient lore, will be enabled to en lighten us on tlle subject. I have only further to mention,



316

that I have been deputed by my brothier Commissioners for the improvemeiit of the Shannon Navigation to present these anicient relics to the Royal Irishl Academy, for the purpose of being added to their already importanit and valuable col

lection of Irish antiquities.

DONATIONS.

Supplementary Appendix to the Report of the Poor Lacw

Commissioners of the Medical Charities in Ireland, with In dexes. 1841. Presented by the Commissioners.

A pamphlet entitled, " Is Seleniunm a tr ue Element ?" Pre

sented by Septimus Piesse. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. Tol.

III. Part 1. 1842. Reports of the Audi/ifs and Council of the Zoological

Society of London, April 29th, 1842, and List of Members.

Su la Falsita dell' Origine Scandinava di Jacopo Grabeig

di Hemso. Sunto della Letteratura Scezzese. Degli Ultimi Progressi della Geografia (two copies). Saggio Istorico su Gli Scaldi o Antichi Poeti Scanclinavi.

Occhiata Sullo stato dellai Geografa nei Temnpi Antichi e

Moderni. Specc7tio Geogrq!fico, e Statistico del? Imiper o di Marocco.

Presented by the Auithor. A copy of the Ordnance Survey of the County qf Water

ford, in forty-two sheets, including the Title and Index. Pre

sented by His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant. Extraits du Tome XV. et X VI. des Alemoires de l'Academie

Royal de Bruxelles, with Notes. Presented by thle Academy. Examinations at the University of London for M. D.,

B. S1., B. L., Al. A., and B. A., (six pamphlets). Presented by the University.

Mllemoiresde l'Institut Royal deFrance. Tome Quinzieme. Presented by the Institute.



on a collection of antiquities, presented by the shannon commissioners to the museum of the academy

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