The Irish tower which most resembles Egilsey is the smaller one of the two at Clonmacnoise. This is an integral part of the church, and joined to the south-east angle of the nave. The entrance to it is on the ground, from the chancel. To this church Dr. Petrie assigns the date of some years before 1000 (p. 271). In many particulars the tower at Egilsey approximates more closely to the round towers of Norfolk, which are of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. There is no evidence of another church in another place having existed in the island; nor account of the _building_ of any church in the island. These, however, are very slight evidences of the antiquity of the present church. There does not appear to be positive evidence that the Christian priests were exterminated by the Norse conquest; though it is probable that they would fly westward. If, however, we give up the idea of its Norse origin, we ought to find resemblances between it and the ancient Irish churches of the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries. These we do find. First, the size of Egilsey is close on the authoritative size of the more important of the ancient churches, presuming the present foot to be about equal to the ancient Irish foot. The authorised Irish size is 60 feet by 27 feet; Egilsey is 62 feet 9 inches and 21 feet 7 inches. The lowness of the chancel, the chamber or “croft” over it, the second chamber in the tower with an arch from it into the nave over the tower arch, the number and size of the windows, the peculiarity of their splays, having no exterior chamfer, the character of the masonry, all resemble the early Irish churches. On the other hand, three great criteria of an early Irish church are not found in Egilsey--the approximation of the jambs of doors and windows towards their imposts, the horizontal heads to the doorways, and the east window. It seems, however, probable that the difference of the materials induced one of these differences. It was difficult to get in Orkney lintels strong and long enough for heads of doorways, though we find them in the broughs. The rebates in the doorways are again of a very early date. It seems on the whole fair to suppose Egilsey to have been built after the traditional Irish form, but with modifications; and soon after the reconversion of the islands to Christianity in 998. If built before that time, we must refer it to the beginning or middle of the ninth century. Unfortunately Neale, when in Orkney, was unable to see this church, and has given a cut, professing to be an approximate likeness of the tower, which is very erroneous in several particulars. The etching in Muir’s “Sketch” is also wrong in proportion.