RICE UNIVERSITY FONPREN LIBRARY Founded under the charter of the univer- sity dated May 18, 1891, the library was Board of Directors, 1988-1989 established in 1913. Its present facility was dedicated November 4, 1949, and rededi- cated in 1969 after a substantial addition, Officers both made possible by gifts of Ella F. Fondren, her children, and the Fondren Foundation and Trust as a tribute to Mr. Edgar O. Lovett II, President Walter William Fondren. The library re- Mrs. Frank B. Davis, Vice-President, Membership corded its half-millionth volume in 1965; Mr. David S. Elder, Vice-President, Programs its one millionth volume was celebrated Mrs. John L Margrave, Vice-President, Special Event April 22, 1979. Mr. J. Richard Luna, Treasurer Ms. Tommie Lu Maulsby, Secretary Mr. David D. Itz, Immediate Past President Dr. Samuel M. Carrington, Jr., University Librarian (ex- officio) THE FRIENDS OF FONDREN LIBRARY Dr. Neal F. Line, Provost and Vice-President (ex- officio) Chairman of the University the Library The Fnends of Fondren Library was found- Committee on ed in 1950 as an association of library sup- (ex-officio) porters interested in increasing and making Mrs. Elizabeth D. Charles, Executive Director (ex- better known the resources of the Fondren officio) Library at Rice University. The Friends, through members' contributions and spon- sorship of a memorial and honor gift pro- Members at Large gram, secure gifts and bequests and provide funds for the purchase of rare books, manuscripts, and other materials which Mrs. D. Allshouse could not otherwise be acquired by the J. library. Mr. John B. Baird III Mr. Walter S. Baker, Jr. Mr. Ronald W. Blake Mrs. Jack S. Blanton, Jr. Dr. Harold M. Hyman THE FLYLEAF Mrs. George A. Laigle Mr. Richard W. Lilliott III Founded October 1950 and published Mrs. Don Mafrige quarterly by The Friends of Fondren Library, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Mr. John H. Matthews Houston, Texas 77251, as a record of Mr. Charles D. Maynard Fondren Library's Friends' activities, and Dr. Harold E. Rorschach and of the generosity of the library's Mrs. Nancy Rupp supporters. Mrs. Gus A. Schill, Jr. John E. Wolf, M.D. Managing Editor, Betty Chatles; Editor, Cory Masiak; Editonal Committee, Sam- uel Carrington, Margaret Clegg, Feme Cover: Lough Leane and Macgillycuddy's Reeks, Killamey Hyman, Nancy Rupp; Computer Consul- National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. Photograph try Jet Marie tant, Tim Freeland. Prenderille. All photographs, u'lth the exception of those in "An Irish Landscape," are b> Elizabeth Charles. A LETTER TO THE FRIENDS CONTENTS Dear Friends, 1 A Letter to the Fnends It is with great pleasure that I applaud your efforts in making our Friends group a healthy, vital, and forward- looking organization. Ovet the past number of years your An Insh Landscape interest and involvement have enabled our association to Part 1: A Prehistoric Past grow and prosper during a turbulent time for all. Your Jet Mane Prerukville most generous level of commitment has allowed unprece- dented participation on behalf of the Friends at literally every level of Fondren's renovation. In conjunction, the 1988-89 Calendar of Events Friends' Endowment Fund continues to grow. Our mem- bership is up and you may look forward to a fine variety of ptograms this year, including a special event in March that The Woodson Research Center: promises to be outstanding. Fondren's Hidden Treasure I encourage each of you to take full advantage of the Miriam Ma tours that have been arranged to view the newly renovated library. You and your guests may tour the facility with a 13 representative of the library staff on Friday, November 1 1, Fondren's French Connection from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Of from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. On Cory Masiak Saturday, Novembet 1 2, there will be one tour from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For some time I have been convinced that support The People Behind the Machines groups like ours will become more and more important to Minam Ma institutions as tesoutces tighten. An organized effort to encourage even greater individual participation from 17 within out own ranks has been and will continue to be an The Fnends of Fondren Library incteasingly significant goal. It is my impression that the Friends of Fondren have accepted this challenge and 25 exemplify the concept to a degree of which we can all Gifts to Fondren Library be proud. Sincerely yours, Edgar Odell Lovett II President AN IRISH LANDSCAPE supported some kind of wooden gate. Near the center of the enclosure are the remains of the foundation of a stone Part I: A Prehistoric Past wall with postholes. This domestic site was further pro- tected by a slight embankment roughly horseshoe in shape. Pottery dating from the late Neolithic and early by Jet Mane Prendeville Bronze Age was found in Circle K, as were eight burials. Archaeologists postulate that this was not a ritual stone cir- Although my journey through Ireland was neither so fear- cle but a domestic ring fort With its imposing view of some nor long as St. Brendan the Navigator's voyage to the almost all of Lough Gur and the surrounding countryside, New World, it was filled with as much wonderment and Circle K may well represent one of the earliest origins of discovery as the sixth-century Irish abbot's maritime the Irish ring tort, which became so prevalent during the adventures, which are recorded in at least 116 Latin late Bronze Age and Iron Age. manuscripts dating from the tenth through the fifteenth Less than a mile from Lough Gur's western bend centuries. Ireland's prehistoric and medieval past became around the Knockadoon peninsula is one of the finest and the focus of a three-week road trip through an island of great scenic and geological beauty. Heading south from the Shannon estuary, I drove a meandering counterclockwise route around the island, discovering prehistoric man-els in counties Cork, Meath, Sligo, and Limerick. Medieval sites were found all along the way, including one of the oldest located not far from the rocky inlet on Kerry's Dingle Ten insula where St. Brendan began his legendary travels. Never far from lakes, mountains, or sea, I was continually astonished by the incredible diversity and loveliness of the Irish landscape. An enchanted place according to Insh folklore, Lough Gur lies tranquilly amidst the rolling limestone hills and fertile farmland of County Limerick. Scholarly excavations of sites around the small lake were begun in 1936 by the Drombeg Stone Circle Co. Cork, circa 153 B.C.-! 27 A.D. archaeologist Sean P. O Rfordain of University College, Cork. With more than thirty ancient sites in its immediate vicinity, Lough Gur is of major importance to the most unusual stone circles in Ireland. Approaching the archaeology of Stone Age man in Ireland (3000-1750 great circle from the southwest, I clambered up the steep, B.C.) . Excavations have yielded large quantities of prehis- grassy slope, not tealizing that an entrance opened on the toric pottery, stone and bronze axes and spearheads, and northeast. Although I had already explored two smaller objects of bone and flint From the interpretive center circles in counties Cork and Wicklow, each distinctive located along the northeast edge of Lough Gur, a sem- and mysterious, neither prepared me for the monumen- blance of a trail follows the lake's shore as it curves around tality and antiquity of this circle. An earth embankment picturesque, rugged Knockadoon Hill. Even though I 29Vi feet wide and almost 4 feet high supports a circle of sought to ascend Knockadoon at its least daunting rise, the at least 145 contiguous stones. The circumference is climb was taxing as lush, wet grass belied rocky, uneven punctuated at regular intervals by ten gigantic boulders terrain. If I failed to find the foundations of the Neolithic- ranging from 4'/2 to 8V2 feet in height, two of which are huts that were situated somewhere on the southwest slope opposite the 6 1/2-foot-tall portal stones. Whether out of of Knockadoon, I had climbed high enough to discover respect for a national monument or because of that single two circles of small stones, the largest having a diameter of drop of superstition in my Irish blood, I slipped down the 102 feet. Circle K, as the largest was designated upon its bank and proceeded around the exterior of the circle in excavation in 1940, consists of two concentric rings of order to enter through the massive portal stones. Lined roughly adjoining stones with a distinct eastern entrance. with smooth boulder faces, the narrow entrance cuts Excavations revealed rock-cut postholes that probably through the bank rising 4 to 5 feet above a cobble pave- Page 2 The Flyleaf merit. Within the circle the ground level whose surface is More than a thousand Neolithic tomb monuments of composed of a gravelly clay, is about 2 feet higher than the four distinct types — court cairn, passage grave, portal surrounding fields. According to archaeologist Aubrey tomb, and wedge-shaped gallery grave — survive Burl, the clay, which was also used for the em- throughout Ireland. Most are inaccessible to the casual bankment, came from a drift deposit near Lough Gur. visitor because of a lack of posting and a verdant terrain The boulders are set into sockets and packed at the base that beckons the explorer but conceals its treasures. The with smaller stones. The circumference of contiguous court cairn tomb structure is found in concentrated num- orthostats, or stand- bers in the western ing stones, is so counties of Mayo, regular that archae- Sligo, and Donegal.