[Hand of G. Petrie:]
26th September 1838
My dear John,
I had the pleasure of receiving your letter of the 21st and was greatly amused though not surprised by your account of the present state of the [left blank] Though a man of talent, he was certainly never a philosopher nor, in my mind, an honest man, and his being now a political bigot, and a gloomy devotee is just what I would have anticipated from a man of his unsteady and ultra character.
In one of your late letters you ask if I know anything of the Western archway of the Cathedral of Tuam. All I know is, that it is undoubtedly the choir arch of the church, not a doorway as supposed, and that its age is the 12th century, and that I have no doubt on my mind that it was built by Turlogh O'Conor and
the archbishop Aed O'Hoissin, by whom the splendid stone cross was made. Cormac's Chapel at Cashel is in the same style, and it is remarkable that there is a cotemporaneous stone cross there too, exactly similar in style to that at Tuam, namely with side-pillars thus:
These pillars in the Tuam Cross are broken off but their bases are still to be seen.
It is a great shame for the people of Tuam both Papist and Protestant, not to get the part of this Cross put together, and the Cross restored. There is nothing equal to it, in its way in the British Empire.
I am glad you will soon be nearer home in the Queen's County
faithfully yours,
George Petrie