Liamhain. — The  name  of  Ldamhain  or  Dun-
Liamhna  [Dun-lavna]  is  still  preserved  in  that  of
Dunlavin,  a  small  village  in  the  county  Wicklow.
The  mound  of  this  residence  is  still  to  be  seen
a  mile  south  of  the  village  :  but  it  has  lost  its
old  name  and  is  now  called  "  Tornant  Moat."
(Tornant,  'nettle-mound':  ominous  of  rain.)


Fig.  102.
Carbury  Castle,  County  Kildare.     (From  a  photograph.)


Side-Nechtain. — The  hill  of  Carbury  in  Kildare
has  a  dim  legendary  history  as  a  royal  residence.
It  was  anciently  called  Side-Nechtain  [Shee-Nechtan],


CHAP.  XVI.]  THE  HOUSE.  837

i.e.  l  Neclitan's  Shee  or  fairy-hill ' :  showing  that  it
was  the  site  of  one  of  those  elf-mounds  described  at
p.  106,  supra.  This  Nechtan,  according  to  the  old
documents,  was  king  of  Leinster,  and  also  a  poet.
But  the  place  contained  a  residence  of  a  less
shadowy  kind :  for  on  the  north-west  slope  there  are
still  two  remarkable  and  very  perfect  military  raths
or  forts.  Near  the  base  of  the  hill  is  Trinity  Well,
the  source  of  the  Boyne,  the  enchanted  well  that  in
old  time  burst  up  and  overwhelmed  Boand,  Nechtan's
queen.  But  in  subsequent  times  the  Christian
missionaries — as  in  case  of  many  another  wTell
(p.  164,  above) — removed  its  heathenish  character
and  associations,  and  dedicated  it  to  the  Holy
Trinity.  The  Anglo-Norman  De  Berminghams,  who
took  possession  of  the  district,  having  an  eye  to
something  more  substantial  than  Dedannan  fairy
palaces,  took  advantage  of  the  selection  of  their
immediate  Milesian  predecessors  and  built  a  splendid
castle  not  far  from  the  old  Irish  fortresses,  near  the
summit,  the  ruins  of  which  are  now  conspicuous  for
leagues  round  the  hill.
