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ing in 1826, and thenceforward was a constant exhibitor; he was elected a member in 1828, was appointed librarian in 1830, and was subsequently President. Although so early as 18 16 he contributed articles on current literature, antiquities, and archaeology, it was not untU the establishment of the Dublin Penny Journal in 1832 that his abilities found scope, and his genius for analysis and research became apparent. He and Caesar Otway edited the first volume of the magazine, and wrote many notices of objects of antiquity, and historic sketches of the rise, progress, and decadence of the fine arts in Ireland. Ten years afterwards he became the sole editor of the Irish Penny Journal, during its short existence of twelve months. In 1829 he was elected on the Council of the Royal Irish Academy. It was Petrie who in 1831 secured for the Academy an autograph copy of the Second Part of the A7inals of the Four Masters, which had previously lain unnamed and neglected. From 1833 to 1846 he was connected with the Ordnance Survey, and visited all parts of Ireland in the course of his duties. In 1833 his essay on the " Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland" gained a prize of £50 from the Academy; in 1834 he read his essay on the " Military Architecture of Ireland ;" in 1837, on the "History and Antiquities of Tara ;"in 1838 on "Cromlechs and Sepulchral Eemains."The break-up of the Irish Ordnance Topographical Survey placed him in circumstances of some difficulty, and he was obliged to revert to his pencil for a livelihood; but a pension on the Civil List eventually placed him above want, and put him in a position to pursue his investigations with an easy mind; and the honorary degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by Trinity College, testified the estimation in which he was held. His great work on The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland anterior to the Anglo-Norman Invasion, Comprising an Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round Tou-ers, was published in 1845. The preface says: "The work contains not only the original essay on the round towers, very much enlarged, but also distinct essays on our ancient stone churches and other ecclesiastical buildings of contemporaneous age with the round towers." Petrie's conclusions regarding Irish anti- quities, arrived at after a life devoted to the subject, are much as follows : That the great cahirs of the west and south, such as those on Aran, and Staigue Fort, and the tumuli, such as those of New Grange, Dowth, and Knowth, afford ground for the conclusion that they were the
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work of Greek colonists who settled in Ireland and the southern part of England at a very remote period. That the cromlechs and many of the stone circles are un- doubtedly sepulchral monuments. That the innumerable raths were simply the places of abode of the ancient inhabitants of the country, within which they erected their wooden habitations, and where they kept their flocks and herds in time of danger. That castles of the Anglo Norman type seem to have been erected in small numbers shortly before the period of the English occupation. That the caisel was a circular wall or enclosure for the defence of royal residences or of monas- teries. That the rath, lios, or lis, was an earthen mound or fort, enclosed with one or more fosses or ramparts. That the term dun is a generic one, used synony- mously with i*ath, lis, or cahir. That the round towers (built between the 7th and loth centuries) were meant to serve as belfries to Christian churches, and were used as keeps or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and persons could retire for security in times of danger. He considered very many of the small churches as almost contemporaneous with the introduction of Christi- anity into the country. Petrie's conclusions regarding the Christian origin of the round towers ai'e now accepted by all leading Irish scholars and antiquarians. Petrie also devoted much attention to the study of ancient Irish art and Irish music. He was a proficient in the latter, and on his violin interpreted the old tunes of the country in an unrivalled manner. The closing years of his life were devoted to the publication of a portion of his collection of Irish music. He died at Eathmines, Dublin, 1 7th January 1866, aged 77, and was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery. His fine collection of Irish antiquities was purchased from his family by the Government, and deposited in the Royal Irish Academy, and the con- tinuance of a portion of his Civil List pension was ultimately secured for his daughters. George Petrie was a man of a wonderfully sweet and tender, though some what dilatory, disposition. His paint- ings and drawings are highly valued by persons interested in Irish scenery and antiquities,
Petty, Sir William, M.D., one of the most successful of the many adventurers enriched by Irish confiscations in the 1 7th century, and a benefactor to Ireland by his survey and his economic writings, was the son of a clothier, and was born at Rumsey
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