Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/207

Rh a very high antiquity, but which M. De Lassus has proved to be of the very end of the twelfth century.

"The opinions which I have thus ventured to express as to the age of the doorway of the round tower of Kidare, and consequently as to the antiquity, in Ireland, of the style of architecture which it exhibits, will, I think, receive additional support from the agreement of many of its ornaments with those seen in the better preserved, if not more beautiful, doorway of the round tower of Timahoe, in the Queen's County,—a doorway which seems to be of cotemporaneous erection, and which, like that of Kildare, exhibits many peculiarities, that I do not recollect to have found in buildings of the Norman times, either in England or Ireland. The general appearance of this doorway will be seen in the above sketch:

"The strongest evidence in favour of the antiquity of this doorway may, however, be drawn from the construction and general style of the tower, as in the fine-jointed character of the ashlar work in the doorway and windows; and still more in the straightsided arches of all the windows, which, with the exception of a small quadrangular one, perfectly agree in style with those of the most ancient churches and round towers in Ireland, and with those of the churches in England now considered as Saxon." p. 235.

Mr. Petrie gives a profusion of illustrations of the details of the church of the monastery at Glendalough, all of which have very much the look of twelfth century work, though he endeavours to prove them much older; yet they correspond so nearly with the details of the church of Cormac, that