William Betham – Round Towers Resolved: Purpose

Posted on March 28, 2016by malagabay

The pivotal point of this penultimate posting on the Round Towers of Ireland is that in
1833 the mainstream established a harmonious Settled History belief system that
reconciled the [previously warring] factions in the academic and ecclesiastical power
bases within Ireland.
In 1833 evidence based scholars “all went out of the door” in Ireland.

In 1833 the Settled History belief system was “firmly established” in Ireland.
The following year, 1833, a gold medal for the best essay was awarded to Petrie
himself.
His essay is a scholarly refutation, courteous but damning, of the wilder
theories of his predecessors, Molyneux, Vallancey, Ledwich, Louisa Beaufort and
others.
Danes and Druids, Persian or Scythian fire-worshippers, African sea-kings,
Phoenicians and Indians, all went out of the door and the towers werefirmly
established as ecclesiastical in origin, monastic structures of the early Celtic
church, primarily bell towers, refuges and treasure stores, with secondary uses as
watch towers and possibly beacons.
Round Towers of Ireland: Study and Gazetteer – Lennox Barrow – 1979

See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/george-lennox-barrow-and-the-
round-towers/
See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/henry-obrien-and-the-round-
tower-competition/
For the last 183 years Irish Settled Historians have been saddled with an ecclesiastical
narrative that can’t pass a rudimentary sniff test.
Irish medical professionals simply bury [or burn] their mistakes.

Irish Settled Historians, on the other hand, have to [somehow] preserve their mistakes.
This is no easy task for Settled Historians because propping up their decaying
corpses at the back of the lecture theatre always runs the risk that someone will have the
audacity to mention the smell or the temerity to suggest they’re an intellectual health
hazard.
For the last 183 years Irish Settled Historians have been bluffing, bamboozling,
[academically] bludgeoning and [eventually] burying evidence based scholars.
Therefore, as Easter draws to a close, it seems fitting to resurrect an evidence based
scholar who has been buried by the Irish Settled Historians.
Sir William Betham (1779–1853) was an English herald and antiquarian who held
the office of Ulster King of Arms from 1820 until his death in 1853.
…
Betham took an active part in the proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, from the
period of his admission to it as a member in 1820.
He became one of its governing body, acted as secretary, and made
contributions to its publications.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Betham_%281779%E2%80%931853%29
William Betham was part of the “governing body” of the Royal Irish Academy during
theIrish Round Towers Competition fiasco and he finally resigned from the Royal Irish
Academy in 1837 when George Petrie won a second gold medal.
The only other entry came from Henry O’Brien, a twenty-five year old enthusiast for
oriental learning, to whom the council awarded a consolatory bronze medal.

Reading his essay today, it is hard to understand how any responsible body that
recognised the value of Petrie’s work could have awarded anything for this farrago of
romantic and mystical nonsense.

Its sub-title, ‘the mysteries of freemasonary, of sabaism and of buddhism for the first
time unveiled’, well conveys its content.

With scarcely a pretence at scholarly argument it repeats a large part of the errors
that Petrie so ably refutes.

The award is probably explained by the presence on the council of Sir William
Betham, Ulster King of Arms, an ardent champion of theories about the
transmigration of the Druidic Buddha, set out in hisEtruria Celtica.
There was clearly a clash of personalities as well as of opinions, and in 1837 when
Petrie was awarded another gold medal, for an essay on the antiquities of
Tara, Betham resigned in protest.
To the dismay of Petrie’s supporters, O’Brien’s essay, duly described as winner of the
Academy’s medal, was published in 1834.

Petrie’s work did not formally appear until 1845 when it was printed as volume twenty
of the transactions of the Academy, under the title The ecclesiastical architecture of
Ireland anterior to the Anglo-Norman invasion, with a second edition, in smaller
format, the same year (referred to below as ‘Petrie’ and all page references are to the
latter edition).
Round Towers of Ireland: Study and Gazetteer – Lennox Barrow – 1979

See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/henry-obrien-and-the-round-
tower-competition/
William Betham was unimpressed by Henry O’Brien’s “abominable book”.
Dr. Villaneuva, from his ignorance of the Irish history and language, was involved in
the most absurd blunders, and poor O’Brien was insane.
…
This brief statement of the opinions and belief of Buddhism, clearly shows, that the
late Mr. O’Brien totally misunderstood its precepts, and that all his
premises being erroneous, his conclusions must be equally so.
…
The Essay which gained the gold medal of the Royal Irish Academy ten years ago
(which has not, and that of Mr. O’Brien, which has been published), are both
found erroneous in their conjectures.
…
The opinion propounded in Mr. O’Brien’s ” abominable book ” as it is styled by
the writer in the Quarterly Review, is entirely grounded on the solitary circumstance
of the Irish word boi signifying the Phallus. Hisignorance of the localities, as well as
of the doctrines of Buddhism was extreme, he talks of Persian Buddhists whereas it
does not appear that the name of Budh, was even known in that country.
Much allowance should, however, be made for that unfortunate young man, who
undoubtedly laboured under aberration of mind, and died suddenly, it is
believed, from a disordered brain.
His book, throughout, exhibits evidence of a crazed intellect.
Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842
https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/henry-obrien-and-the-round-
towers/
William Betham was unimpressed by George Petrie who “repudiated the idea” that
“an urn with bones” had been discovered underneath a Irish Round Tower as “utterly
unworthy of belief”.
I have read Mr. Petrie’s essay, and must say it failed to convince me of the
accuracy of his opinions.
…
Some years since, Mr. Middleton, who lives in the neighbourhood ofTimahoe, in the
Queen’s County, told me that a peasant having frequently dreamed that treasure was
hid in the round tower of that place, induced two others to join him, and went at
night, and having removed the earth, came to a flag-stone which they raised,
and discovered an urn with bones therein.
Mr. Middleton assured me he had often conversed with those men, and had no doubt,
whatever, of the truth and accuracy of the statement.

I mentioned this fact to Mr. George Petrie, but he repudiated the idea as
utterly unworthy of belief.
Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842
https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
William Betham, therefore, began his own investigations which revealed the Round
Tower of Timahoe is a non-Christian sepulchre.
Some years afterwards I became acquainted with Mr. Moore, of Cremorgen,
near Timahoe, and I requested him to inquire into the facts.
Shortly after I received from that gentleman a letter, of which the following is a copy,
fully bearing out Mr. Middleton’s statement : –

My dear Sir – When I was last in town, you expressed a wish that I should make some
inquiries respecting the Round Tower of Timahoe, in the Queen’s County ; I have
accordingly done so, and find that about fifty years ago, some persons were tempted
to dig within the tower in search of money, when, having gone as deep as three feet,
they found a flag, and over it a very large rib, which they supposed to be that of a
horse, on finding which, the search was discontinued till many years after, when some
persons again commenced digging in the tower, when having gone down about
three or four feet farther than the former persons they found a flag (stone), and under
it an earthen vessel filled with bones, having the appearance of being
burned.
This circumstance caused no surprise in the persons searching, as in almost every
sand-hill in the neighbourhood (of which there are a great number),similar
earthen vessels, filled with bones, have been found, at from four to eight
feet down.
I received this account from eyewitnesses on whom I could depend.

Believe me to be, yours very truly,

Pierce Moore

This letter, in my mind, demolishes the notion of these buildings being belfries, or even
Christian buildings.

Cremation, so far as history informs us, never obtained as a mode of sepulture

among Christians, therefore, urns and burned bones being found buried within the
tower of Timahoe, demonstrates an earlier period for the erection of the
Round Towers.
Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842
https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth

The Round Tower of Ardmore is also a non-Christian sepulchre.

ARDMORE
This tower stands in the County of Waterford, on the coast near the entrance of
Youghal bay.

It is above one hundred feet high, forty-five feet in circumference, fifteen in diameter.

It is divided on the outside by projecting bands into four unequal stories, with a
window in each, except the upper, in which are four opposite to each other.

The door is about fifteen feet from the ground.

This is the only tower in Ireland (at least I believe so) which has the
projecting bands, in which it resembles much the Indian Towers of
Boglipoor. (See plates.)
On the 25th of July, 1841, I received a letter from my excellent and indefatigable friend
William Hackett, of Mitchelstown, in the County of Cork, Esq., of which the following is
an extract : –
Middleton, St. Declan’s day, (24th July) 1841.

I hesitate not for one post to hand you an extract of a letter, which I received last night
from Mr. Odell, of Ardmore, to whom I had transmitted a copy of your letter to J.
Windele, in which you recommended that the digging should be persevered in, and in
which you mention the fact of the urn having been found in Timahoe Tower.

It must be very gratifying to you that your suggestion has been of such benefit.

As Windele, Abell, and I, are bound for Ardmore this evening, I shall take the liberty of
writing to acquaint you with the result.

Mr. Odell deserves the thanks of all lovers of antiquarian research.

I am, &c.

W. Hackett

Extract from Mr. Odell’s letter : –

But I will tell you what I did find, which has mystified me not a little.

It must be fresh in your memory, that in the former excavation I had to sink through a
mass of very large stones, so closely packed together, that it was not easy to remove
them ; but without any mortar, except where they approached or joined the wall of the
tower.

This description, however, applies to the two or three lower courses of the stones, for
the upper were not so close.

Your letter, however, and a little of my own curiosity, determined me on sinking

deeper.

To work, therefore, I went yesterday, and came at once upon regular courses of
immense unhewn stones, so packed and joined in with the surrounding work, as
apparently to have formed part of the original structure.
These stones were so close, that it was almost impossible to get a crow-bar between
them, and they were removed with great difficulty.

At length we got up the last of them, and found they had been lying on a bed of mortar,
quite level and smooth.

This mortar was exactly level with the external base of the tower, and I naturally
concluded we had arrived at a ne plus ultra ; but, to my great surprise, the crow-bar
went through into soft mould !
So down we still went, the stones standing round like the sides of a wall,
and about a foot lower down, across the centre of the tower, and lying east
and west, we found a human skeleton ! ! !
But pray come and see things yourself.

On the 30th of July I received a second letter from Mr. Hackett, of which the following
is an extract : –

Middleton, 29tli July, 1841.

Let me now relate our proceedings since I wrote.

Windele, Abell, and Keleher, joined me, and we met Mr. Odell at Ardmore, and on
descending, we found every thing at the bottom of the tower, as described in Mr.
Odell’s letter, except that the bones had been collected in a basket, the head and feet not
having been extracted from the foundation, where they were so embedded, that they
could not be extracted.

Mr. Odell’s letter described the labour in reaching the bottom ; let me now describe
what appears to have been the manner in which the builders of the tower
proceeded.
They first went about ten feet, or more, below the surface, and there laid their
foundation of large rocks ; about four feet from the bottom they laid the body
across, the head and feet resting on the rocks at the opposite side, the body
lying on a bed of mould, four or five feet diameter ; they then continued to
carry up the foundation, the ends irregularly serrated, so as to overlay the head on
one side, and the feet on the other ; they then covered the body with about two feet of
mould, which they covered with a floor of mortar ; over this, they wedged in, with such
force, as to render them impervious to ordinary labour, large blocks forming a
compact mass of unhewn stones, and above them another layer of similar stones, but
not so compact ; over this were indications of another mortar floor, which being only
visible at the edges, indicated a former attempt at exploration.
Only about one course or two of large blocks were laid higher than the outside plinth;
above these was a loose mass of small stones, five or six feet deep of the same kind of
stones as the sub-stratum of blocks, all of which are different from the stone of which
the tower was built.

I am thus minute in the description, because it has been suggested that, as the
skeleton was found lying east and west, as the bodies do in the
surrounding cemetery, the tower had been built over a grave unknown to the
builders.
This induced me to examine it with more care, and I took with me an intelligent mason,
who agreed with me that this tower was certainly intended as a sepulchre, for
the whole was carefully and artificially prepared for that purpose ; first, laying down
a concrete floor, then four successive layers of mason’s work, and finally, above these,
a second floor of concrete ; all this would not be accidentally built over a body
previously deposited, for the last floor and the walls rest on the solid rock.
On the 29th of July, I received a letter from my friend, John Windele, of Cork, Esq.
confirming Mr. Hackett’s statements; and on the 18th of August following, one from
Mr. Odell, stating that he had discovered a second skeleton, so embedded in the
solid work of the tower, he had ” not been able to extract it, but that it can be
got out without, in the slightest degree, interfering with, or endangering the
foundation, whichrests, as I had anticipated, upon the rock.”
This last circumstance, clearly demonstrates the suggestion of the tower having been
built over a previous grave, to be erroneous.

In a subsequent letter, dated I7th August, 1841, Mr. Hackett sent me drawings of a
section of the tower, with floors, masses of stone, and the mould, with the body in situ,
(and also of the several grotesque sculptures in the interior of the tower,) which will be
found in Plate, Ardmore Tower No. II.

Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842

https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
The Round Tower of Cashel is also a non-Christian sepulchre.
CASHEL TOWER
The tower on the north side of the cathedral on the rock of Cashel, was the next
examined.

Permission having been obtained from the Dean and Chapter, on the 3rd and 4th
September, 1841, Messrs. Horgan, Odell, Hackett, Abell, Willes, Keleher, and Windele,
undertook the task, in the execution of which, they were joined by the Very Rev. Dean
Cotton.

The door is twelve feet above the external base.

The interior was found filled with loose earth, intermixed with human
bones, about two feet deep ; under this was a mass of solid stone-work, forming the
original floor of the building, about five feet nine below the door, through this the
workmen penetrated to the rock on which the tower was built ; small fragments of
charcoal were found at the base of the tower.
It is evident this tower had been examined, the body, or bodies, were deposited
between the door and the floor in the five feet nine inches, a space amply sufficient
for the purpose ; the two feet of loose mould and human bones were part of the debris
left after examination.
The state in which this tower was found is consistent with having been a sepulchre like
that of Ardmore.

Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842

https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
The Round Tower of Cloyne is also a non-Christian sepulchre.
CLOYNE TOWER
In September, 1841, the Rev. Messrs. Horgan, Rogers, Jones, Bolster, D. Murphy, and
Messrs. Hackett, Sainthill, Abell, Windele, Keleher, and F. Jenning, proceeded to
examine the tower near the cathedral of Cloyne, in the County of Cork.

The workmen, after clearing out about three or four feet of rubbish, fallen nests of
jackdaws, rotten bones of birds, and stones, came to a solid floor of broken lime-
stones laid in gravel, so firmly fixed as only to yield to continual applications of the
pick-axe and the crow-bar, under which was found a bed of fine black earth, in
which were three human skeletons, two lying beside each other, and a
third below ; under this was a layer of heavy stones, with a smooth level
surface fixed in gravel, under which were two tiers of light flags, which rested on the
solid rock.
There is no question of the sepulchral character of this tower, nor can a
doubt be raised on that point.
Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842
https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
The Round Tower of Roscrea is also a non-Christian sepulchre.
ROSCREA TOWER, TIPPERARY
My indefatigable and intelligent friend, Hackett, again exerted himself with Mr.
Edward Wall, a gentleman of Roscrea, who undertook the excavation. Mr. Hackett
transmitted me extracts from letters of Mr. Wall’s, of which the following are copies : –

Roscrea, 16th Feb. 1842.

I have had two men at the tower these two days, they have sunk eight feet, or within
one of the foundation ; three feet consisted of earth and loose stones,
intermixed with human bones.
We then met a floor of rich mortar, which had the appearance of grouting, it was
about six inches thick, beneath it was a layer of hard tenacious clay, about fifteen
inches thick, with similar clay in layers to the bottom.

All through there were human bones sparingly interspersed ; I found three
under jaw-bones of aged persons, but one had the teeth in good preservation, with
several thigh-bones, and it is remarkable that they were all found close to the
walls.
I should infer that the bodies were not buried in the position we found
them.
Portions of skulls were also found, and the rib of a child.

At the bottom we found a bed of clay, in the centre of which was a small round hole,
about two and a half inches diameter, into which the handle of the shovel was inserted
five feet six inches, without any interruption but the mark of water on the handle.

Roscrea, 22d Feb. 1842.

When I wrote last I had got about eight feet below the door, or within a foot of the
external base.

I have now proceeded four feet deeper, and could not proceed lower as the
water flowed in upon us.
As we proceeded, the human bones became more numerous and longer,
embedded in tenacious clay ; I have kept all the bones.
The round hole before described, did not reach the length of the shovel-handle, and
terminated in a hard impenetrable substance.

The irregularity of the interior of the wall of the tower from the door-way downwards,
contrasts strongly with the smooth even finish of the wall upwards.

The door is due south, a window on the east about twenty feet higher than the door, is
topped with stones closing to a point externally, but forms a round arch on the outside.

About ten feet higher is a window to the west, an oblong square.

There are no other openings; the lower is at present eighty feet high, but has been
much more ; the door-way is five feet three inches high, and the walls three feet six
inches thick ; there is a groove of about one inch and a half round the door-way inside,
as if to fit a door, and holes for the pivots for the door to swing on, and a large hole for
the bolt.
There are corbels projecting throughout to the top, placed irregularly, and some
broken.

The mason-work is not of the irregular character common to our ecclesiastical

buildings ; I should almost say it was coursed, but not in horizontal lines ; in some of
the stones small portions are cut out and pieces fitted in, to keep the course regular ;
some of these pieces are polygons, others square ; the mortar was rich and strong.

I shall examine the round hole at bottom, if the water abates, as I think it curious.

Roscrea, 14th April, 1842.

Since I last wrote, I have carried my researches still deeper in the tower, and
found the opening to terminate in seven large round stones which we raised,
but as we were working in water (and very cold also), I can only say we met many
more bones than before in the same space, but much decayed from the damp.
We also found a piece of oak about the size of a hand, about a quarter of an inch thick,
which had the appearance of having been charred on one side ; altogether, we
penetrated fifteen feet from the door-way, and the human bones increased
as we descended.
I got ladders and ascended to both windows. I found on the stones of the window a
figure of an old galley, and other figures, of which I send you drawings ; there was an
inscription under the vessel, but it is defaced ; the characters were about an inch long.

There are two square windows, not one, as stated in my last, and the openings are
all in the cardinal points.
The door south, the highest window north, the peaked one with the ship east, the other
square one west.”

Mr. Wall’s description is very minute, and, therefore, the more important and valuable.

The irregularity of the interior of the wall downwards, while that upwards was so
smooth and finished, clearly points out that the lower portion was intended for a
sepulchral deposit.
It was found full of human bones at the lowest portion at fifteen feet from the door-
way, and they gradually diminished in the upper portion of the mould and stones.
That the tower certainly had been examined before, appears from the dislocated and
confused state in which the bones were found.

Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842

https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
The Round Tower of Drumbo is also a non-Christian sepulchre.

DRUMBO TOWER
Is situated in the County of Down.

My noble friend the Marquis of Downshire, transmitted to me two letters from Andrew
Durham, Esq. his lordship’s agent, containing a detailed account of the examination of
this tower ; his lordship, with a laudable zeal to promote science, and the literature of
his country, as well as her general prosperity, having directed this tower, and that of
Maghera, to be examined.

Belvedere, Lisburn, 29th Dec. 1841.

My Lord – As your lordship and party were prevented attending the interesting search
at Drumbo Tower, I beg to inform your lordship that about seven feet below
where we commenced excavating, we found a skeleton, in situ, laying by
compass N. W. by W., wanting both feet from the knees, and the right arm.
The earth we removed was of a blackish colour, as if principally composed of
decomposed vegetable matter, full of stones ; many of which, from the mortar on them,
must have fallen from the top and the entrance, which is about five feet above the
external level ; and on the eastern side, it also abounded in bones of different animals,
and a few horns, seemingly of black cattle ; under this earth we came to a surface of
mortar, this induced us to proceed still more cautiously, and immediately under this
mortar we first discovered the skull, in good preservation, together with the teeth ;
we then laid bare the entire body, a work of no little difficulty, from the wetness and
adhesiveness of the soil ; we were much inclined to leave the body as we found it, but
were obliged to raise it, to enable us to continue our search.
We excavated to the very foundation of the tower, without finding
anything else ; our intention is, after levelling the surface, to construct a rude stone
coffin, replace the bones in their former position, and cover them up again, with the
exception of the skull, and the upper and lower jaw, which we think it better, to avoid
being stolen, to transfer to the Belfast Museum, with its history.
In the earth we found many pieces of charcoal, the skull was lying on the right
side, and from the general appearance of the bones, I should think the interment was
not anterior to the Christian era, though the dorsal and cervical vertebrae were
considerably decomposed.
In the present state of the tower, there is nothing interesting beyond itself to be seen, as
the bones are all removed.

May I beg your lordship to express my acknowledgments to Lady Downshire, for her
ladyship’s very polite note ; though having a dinner-engagement, I avail myself of
twenty minutes to spare, to write this hasty and imperfect account, which I trust your
lordship will excuse from the interesting nature of the subject, and

Believe me to remain, my Lord, with great respect,

Your Lordship’s faithful and obliged,

Andrew Durham.

My Lord — As your lordship has accounted for the absence of the legs from the knees
down, by supposing the diameter of the tower would not have admitted the entire
length of the body, I think it necessary to state that the diameter is nine feet ; and what
appears still more remarkable is, that the trunk was not placed exactly in the centre,
but the head so near the side, that there would have been room sufficient for the body,
with its legs and feet, had it been perfect it would have been in the centre, the mystery
seems to me increased by the want of the arm.

None of the bones found had been acted on by FIRE.

There was no flag-stone, nor floor, either above or below the body, the layer of mortar
seems to have been intended as a substitute for a floor.

There were several jaw-bones, apparently pigs from the size and tusks, but no skulls,
with the exception of one of a bird.

The external circumference of the tower is fifty-one feet, the walls being four feet thick.

I believe I have mentioned every thing of importance, I leave to others to draw

conclusions.

Should your lordship wish for further information I shall be happy to give it.

I have the honour to remain, my Lord,

Your Lordship”s faithful and obliged,

Andrew Durham.

Belvedere, 31st Dec. 1841.”

Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842

https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
The Round Tower of Abernethy in Scotland is also a non-Christian sepulchre.
ABERNETHY
There are two round towers in Scotland, one at Abernethy, in Fifeshire, the other at
Brechin.

The Rev. Andrew Small, minister of Edenhead, in Fife, published a small volume on the
Roman Antiquities, found in Fife in 1823.

In which he gives an account of the examination of the round tower of Abernethy,

from which the following is extracted : –
There are lofts or floors in it, which are ascended by ladders, and there is a bell placed
in it.

As to the tradition, that the king of the Picts, or Peghs, was buried in it, the
plain meaning is, that it was originally intended for a mausoleum for
burying their kings in, not under it, but within it, as there is full room for two or
three coffins to be beside each other within the square of the aisle ; and it is as clear to
me as the sun’s beam, that the Pictish race of kings all lie buried in it.
I am convinced, that if trial were made, by digging down about six or eight feet, their
bones will be found in full confirmation of this.

In the Appendix to Mr. Small’s work is an account of the examination of the tower by
digging, in accordance with Mr. Small’s suggestion, as follows : –

This experiment was made on the 10th of May, 1821, in the presence of the Rev. Mr.
Laurie, Dr. Guthrie, and the writer hereof (Mr. Small).

The Rev. Mr. Duncan was from home, but his place was supplied by his brother, and
another young gentleman.

The sexton, who was employed, had not dug down four feet when he came to
plenty of human bones, and the fragments of a light green urn, with a row of
carving round the bottom of the neck ; most of the bones appeared to have belonged to
the person that had been last interred, as they came up double, and of the same size ;
the arm-bones, the thigh-bones, the leg- bones, and all the ribs on both sides, as also
part of the skull and back -bones, all in a state of apparent good preservation.
There was one bone, however, which was dug up among the rest, that obviously
appeared to us all not to belong to the human body, which the Doctor declared to be
rather the bone of a dog (the thigh-bone).

The man, in digging, soon came to thin broad flags, which served either as the bottom
of the first coffin, or the cover of another, and by removing one, which seemed to be the
largest, found there was plenty of bones below ; and thus, after gaining our end
in ascertaining the original design of building it, as a cemetry for the royal
family, we desisted.
After making this important discovery within, we then went out, and soon made
another without.

When looking up to it we observed, that the first twelve rows of stones from the
foundation were exceedingly weather-beaten, old and corroded by the effect of time,
though seemingly of a hard and durable nature.
The contrast was so great with those immediately above them, that these appeared to
be only as if they had been newly built, in comparison with the others.

This contrast appeared to best advantage from the west side,

The sexton has since informed me that he had afterwards dug farther down, and
found many more bones, among them seven skulls, all lying together.
The flesh was adhering to some of the bones, which the uncommon dryness of
the mould must have caused.
When bells began to be used, on the introduction of Christianity, a bell
was suspended in it.
This reverend and worthy individual is entitled to the credit of first pointing out the
original intention and use of the round tower, although all his speculations respecting
them may not merit full credence, yet he is deserving of praise ; his book is very little
known ; I saw it first last year, it was lent me by the Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald Day, who
bought it in Edinburgh, on his return from a tour to the north of Scotland.

The same idea had struck me from reading the travels of Fan Hian, in the proceedings
of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842

https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/the-heinsohn-horizon-and-the-
round-towers/
The Round Tower of Trummery is also a non-Christian sepulchre.
Since the printing of the foregoing pages the Round Tower of Trummery, in the
County of Antrim, has been examined, at the bottom of which a circular staircase
has been discovered, leading to a sepulchral chamber, where several
skeletons have been found.
I have only heard this fact verbally, but from authority which I consider
unquestionable.

This is an additional proof of the sepulchral character of the Round Towers,

and puts an end to all controversy on the subject.
Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842
https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
Therefore, William Betham clearly established [way back in 1842] that the Round
Towers of Ireland were originally non-Christian sepulchres [“like those in India and
Italy”] that have been appropriated, adapted and adopted by the Ecclesiastical
Establishment in Ireland.
It is scarcely necessary to apply this evidence, or to sum up what has been adduced, in
order to satisfy the most incredulous, that the round towers were sepulchral
mausolea, like those of India and Italy, erected for the deposit of the bodies of
eminent individuals, most likely of the spiritual hieorophants of the Celtae.
That they have been also applied by Christians to the use of belfries, is not
only probable, but certain ; that some of them have been erected since the
Christian era is also very probable, and possibly with a design and object very
different from those of the founders of the oldest towers : man is imitative ; change of
faith did not remove the veneration due to the tombs of their ancestors,
which have ever been held sacred by all nations of antiquity.
This long-agitated questio vexata, may now be considered as set at rest.
The Essay which gained the gold medal of the Royal Irish Academy ten
years ago (which has not, and that of Mr. O’Brien, which has been published), are
both found erroneous in their conjectures.
The delay of the appearance of the former has rendered it an abortion confuted
while yet unpublished ; if it ever appears, it may be useful as a statistic account of
the present appearance of the round towers, but for showing the object for which they
were erected, it will bealtogether worthless.
Etruria-Celtica – William Betham – 1842
https://archive.org/details/etruriacelticaet02beth
The conjectures and assertions of George Petrie were shown to be “altogether worthless”
back in 1842 but the Settled Historians of today still push the Petrie orthodoxy.
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3 Responses to William Betham – Round Towers
Resolved: Purpose

1. CW says:
March 28, 2016 at 17:15

“… a sepulchral chamber, where several skeletons have been found.” These skeletons
might be the remains of sacrifice victims. Their placement suggests classic foundation
sacrifices.
CW
 Reply

2. Hank (@indirectly2u) says:

March 28, 2016 at 18:35

stupid question: Is it possible for some of these towers there’d be a man who became
some kind of chief, had impregnated scores of women, and by the time he died had
hundreds of grandchildren. So they buried him and built a tower that was kind of phallic?
then later they would bury his children (their parents) there?

This link is about 8000 years ago, I have no idea about time frames
http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/17-to-1-reproductive-success
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