ECCLKSIASTICAI. UtOIIITRCTURK OK IRKI.ANl).

179 a very lii.^li ;inti(iuily. but wliicli M. De Lassus has proved to be of the very end of the twell'lli eentury. " The opuiions which I have thus ventured to express as to th(; age of the doorway of the round tower of Kihlare, and consequently as to the antiquity, in Irehuid, of the style of architecture which it exhibits, will, I think, receive additional support from the agreement of many of its orna- ments with those seen in the better preserved, if not more beautiful, door- way of the round tower of Timahoe, in the Queen's County, — a doorway DOORWAY OK THE RODND TOWi'lR OV IIWAHOE 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 stjde of the tow^er, as in tlie 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 centur}' work, though he endeavours to prove them much older ; yet they correspond so nearly with the details of the church of Cormac, that