A very early font occurs in the ancient church of Killiney, Co. Dublin; and there is another in the equally ancient church of Kilternan, about six miles south of the city. An example, in which there is no passage by which the water can escape, may be seen in the church of St. John’s Point, Co. Down. There is a fine twelfth-century font of black marble in Kilkenny Cathedral; it rests on four columns and a central drum, and has fluted faces and incised spandrils round the bowl. The earliest fonts are generally somewhat circular in form; but the stone appears only to have been roughly hammered, and in no instance can be perceived any attempt at decoration. * * * * * _Killeshin Font._--One of the oldest ornamented fonts remaining in Ireland is that which stands in the graveyard of Killeshin. It is of a bulbous form, and the base is cut into the figure of an octagon. After the twelfth century, fonts of greater size, and supported by a short column, appear to have become common. Their form is generally octagonal; but they are seldom enriched in any way, and when ornaments occur, they consist only of a few mouldings upon the shafts or upon the upper edge of the basin. From the absence of mouldings in the majority of instances, it is extremely difficult to assign a date to the numerous fonts of an octagonal form which remain in many parts of the country. During the period of debased Gothic architecture, a great many appear to have been erected in Ireland, particularly in the district comprising the old English Pale. * * * * * [Illustration: Kilcarn Font, Co. Meath.]