It has been too much the custom in the past to look upon Ireland as being especially favoured with a wealth of antiquities, Pagan and Christian, more or less indigenous to the soil, and independent of the successive waves of influences sweeping from the Mediterranean littoral, and from Central Europe, ever westward and northward. Light can be thrown on problems still unsolved only by following the more scientific method of inquiry pursued, and by applying to them the knowledge gained in the wider field of European research. Much yet requires to be done in the way of scientific exploration in Ireland; research work to be of any real value should be carried on only under expert supervision. That so much has been accomplished in the past is creditable to individual enterprise; but the time has surely come, with such examples before us abroad, that all further and extended investigation should be conducted under the superintendence of some recognised archæological authority. An Archæological Department is much needed in Ireland; and valuable scientific work of the kind in question should no longer be left to the haphazard enterprise of the amateur, however laudable that enterprise might be. Still more is it necessary that some check should be put on such mischievous undertakings as the exploration of Tara Hill by those absolutely unskilled in archæological work, and for the fanciful object, too, of discovering the ‘Ark of the Covenant’! Such ‘Remains’ as Tara are a national possession, a great trust from the past; and the sense of enlightened public opinion should make itself felt, in demanding such a protective measure as would ensure that the passing custodians, for their own day, of all like antiquities should not be allowed to injure them with impunity.