ly surprising; but that carved
stones and even immense druidical remains should be destroyed is,
indeed, greatly to be lamented. At one of the late meetings of the
Royal Irish Academy a communication was made of the intention of
the proprietor of the estate at New Grange to destroy that most
gigantic relic of druidical times, which has justly been termed the
Irish pyramid, merely because its vast size 'cumbereth the ground.'
At Mellifont a modern cornmill of large size has been built out of
the stones of the beautiful monastic buildings, some of which still
adorn that charming spot. At Monasterboice, the churchyard of which
contains one of the finest of the round towers, are the ruins of
two of the little ancient stone Irish churches, and three most
elaborately carved stone crosses, eighteen or twenty feet high. The
churchyard itself is overrun with weeds, the sanctity of the place
being its only safeguard. At Clonmacnoise, where, some forty years
ago, several hundred inscriptions in the ancient Irish character
were to be seen upon the gravestones, scarcely a dozen (and they
the least interesting) are now to be found--the large flat stones
on which they were carved forming excellent slabs for doorways, the
copings of walls, etc.! It was the discovery of some of these
carved stones in such a situation which had the effect of directing
the attention of Mr. Petrie (then an artist in search of the
picturesque, but now one of the most enlightened and conscientious
of the Irish antiquaries) to the study of antiquities; and it is
upon the careful series of drawings made by him that future
antiquarians must rely for very much of ancient architectural
detail now destroyed. As to Glendalough, it is so much a holiday
place for the Dubliners that it is no wonder everything portable
has disappeared. Two or three of the seven churches are levelled to
the ground--all the characteristic carvings described by Ledwich,
and which were '_quite unique in Ireland_,' are gone. Some were
removed and used as keystones for the arches of Derrybawn bridge.
Part of the churchyard has been cleared of its gravestones, and
forms a famous place, where the villagers play at ball against the
old walls of the church. The little church, called 'St. Kevin's
Kitchen,' is given up to the sheep, and the font lies in one