f Firthal, however, by the affiance of the Pope, continued long after this period to elect bishops and abbots to Glendalagh, though they had neither revenues or authority, beyond the district of Tuathal, which was the western part of the county of Wicklow; in consequence of which the city was suffered to decay, and had become nearly a desert, in 1497, when Dennis White, the last titular bishop, surrendered his right in the cathedral church of St Patrick, Dublin. From the ruins of this ancient city still remaining, it appears to have been a place of consequence, and to have contained seven churches and religious houses; small indeed but built in a neat elegant style, in imitation of the Greek architecture: the cathedral, the walls of which are yet standing, was dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. South of the cathedral stands a small church roofed with stone, nearly entire; and in several parts of the valley are a number of stone crosses, some of which are curiously carved, but without any inscriptions. In the north-west corner of the cemetery belonging to the cathedral stands a round tower, 95 feet high, and 15 in diameter; and in the cemetery of a small church, on the south side of the river, near the great lake, called the Rheaert church, are some tombs, with Irish inscriptions, belonging to the O'Tools. In a perpendicular projecting rock on the south side of the great lake, 30 yards above the surface of the water, is the celebrated bed of St Kevin, hewn out of the rock, exceedingly difficult of access and terrible of prospect. Amongst the ruins have been discovered a number of stones, curiously carved, and containing inscriptions in the Latin, Greek, and Irish languages. As this city was in a valley, surrounded on all sides, except the east, by high, barren, and inaccessible mountains, the artificial roads leading thereto are by no means the least curious part of the remains; the principal is that leading into the county of Kildare through Glendalon. This road for near two miles is yet perfect, composed of stones placed on their edges, making a firm and durable pavement, about 10 feet broad. At a small distance from St Kevin's bed, on the same side of the mountain, are to be seen the ruins of a small stone building called Saint Kevin's cell.