females devoted to celibacy. There was in Tara a royal
foundation of this kind, wherein none were admitted but virgins
of the noblest blood. It was called Cluain-Feart, or the place
of retirement till death," &c ... "The duty of these virgins was
to keep up the fires of Bel, or the sun, and of Sambain, or the
moon, which customs they borrowed from their Phoenician
ancestors. They both [i.e. the Irish and the Phoenicians] adored
Bel, or the sun, the moon, and the stars. The 'house of
_Rimmon_' which the Phoenicians worshipped in, like our temples
of Fleachta in Meath, was sacred to the _moon_. The word
'_Rimmon_' has by no means been understood by the different
commentators; and yet, by recurring to the Irish (a branch of
the Phoenician) it becomes very intelligible; for '_Re_' is
Irish for the moon, and '_Muadh_' signifies an _image_, and the
compound word '_Reamhan_,' signifies _prognosticating by the
appearance of the moon_. It appears by the life of our great S.
Columba, that the Druid temples were here decorated with figures
of the sun, the moon, and stars. The Phoenicians, under the name
of _Bel-Samen_, adored the Supreme; and it is pretty remarkable,
that to this very day, to wish a friend every happiness this
life can afford, we say in Irish, 'The blessings of _Samen_ and
_Bel_ be with you!' that is, of the seasons; Bel signifying the
sun, and Samhain the moon."

--(See O'Halloran's _Hist. of Ireland_, vol. i. P. 47.)

J. SANSOM.

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