From: Antiquities of Abbeys, Castles & c. & c. in Ireland, Vol. II

Inscription in ink on facing page: Clonard or Cluain Ioraid, was once the most distinguished bishop's see in Meath, and its Cathedral may be conjectured to have been one of the very first erected in Ireland and was probably coeval with Clonmacnoise and Armagh ... The Baptismal Font, one of the finest, and perhaps of its kind, one of the oldest in Ireland, and being of very hard-compact-grey limestone, or marble it is still in most wonderful preservation. It is three feet high, and stands on a square pedestal ...

Inscription on facing page probably by Austin Damer Cooper (1831-1900): Immediately approaching Navan, the river Boyne makes a bold sweep round the foot of the hill from which rise up the ruins of Athlumney Castle, built in the style of the end of the 16th century. This pile consists of a large square keep, with stone arched floors & passages rising into a tower from which is a noble view on a clear day ... its last lord, Sir Launcelot Dowdall, hearing of the issue of the battle of the Boyne, and fearing the approach of King William's victorious army, set fire to the Castle at nightfall and crossing the Boyne sat down upon its opposite bank, from whence as tradition reports, he beheld the last timber in his noble mansion crash amidst the surrounding ruins. All that remained of this Castle and Estate was forfeited in 1700.

Inscriptions in ink under two flanking smaller images: "Window"; "Baptismal Tomb"

Title inscribed in ink l.c. on sheet under main image

Watermark u.l. on sheet is I S and EDARY (probably part of the name Villedary)

Physical description: 3 drawings (1 sheet) image 15.4 x 11.7 cm. or smaller, on sheet 18.3 x 26.7 cm.

Citations/References: An Eighteenth Century Antiquary : The Sketches, Notes and Diaries of Austin Cooper (1759-1830) / Liam Price (ed.). - Dublin, 1942 Plate 41

Citations/References: The Medieval Fonts of Meath / Helen M. Roe. - 1968 pages 29-35