Category Archives: Irish Church

A Noble and Dignified Building


Going back several hundred years, a particular feature of Cork city life has been a series of families known as its ‘merchant princes.’ Think of these as being the equivalent of those wealthy families who dominated life in Italian city-states of the early Renaissance or, for a more local example, the 14 Tribes who ran Galway city in the Middle Ages. In Cork, many of their names still resonate, the likes of Beamish, Crawford, Murphy, Roche, Barry and Coveney. In each instance, their wealth came through trade, the management of successful businesses which, in turn, allowed members of these families to play a dominant role in civic life, often holding seats on local councils, influencing policy and directing the course of urban life in the area. In the 18th century, most of them were members of the Established Church but even before the final lifting of penal legislation in 1829, Roman Catholic families had begun to make their mark in Cork, not just in trade but in the city’s physical appearance through acts of philanthropy, such as underwriting the construction of new places of worship. One such family were the Honans. 





The Honan family originated in Limerick, but it appears that in the early 1800s one of them settled in Cork city where they became successful butter merchants, with premises running from 19/20 St Patrick’s Quay up to 10/11 King Street (now McCurtain Street), a site now occupied by the Metropole Hotel.  Their home was on higher ground above the business at 26 Sidney Place on Wellington Road. The last generation numbered three children, Matthew, Robert and Isabella. Not far from their former residence is St Patrick’s church on the Lower Glanmire Road. Originally designed by architect George Pain in the mid-1830s, this was extended and largely rebuilt half a century later, with the costs being underwritten by the Honan siblings. However, today their most important legacy is considered to be a small chapel located on the periphery of the University College Cork campus. Isabella Honan, the last member of the family to die in 1913, had already established a link with the institution three years earlier thanks to a number of scholarships based on an endowment fund of £10,000. But the greater part of the family fortune was left to disburse for charitable purposes in Cork, as deemed appropriate by the family solicitor and executor of her will, Sir John Robert O’Connell. Like the deceased, O’Connell was an ardent Catholic (following his wife’s death, he would be ordained a priest) and in accordance with Isabella Honan’s wishes, used much of the money to benefit that church, although sums were provided to complete the university’s Biological Laboratory (accordingly named the Honan Biological Institute) and the Hydraulic Laboratory. In 1914 O’Connell negotiated the purchase of St Anthony’s Hostel. Previously called Berkeley Hall, this had opened 30 years earlier as a residence for Church of Ireland students in 1884. Now it became the Honan Hostel, a place of residence for male Catholic students attending the university, although it was governed by a separate legal trust. It continued until 1991 when closed down and, after being purchased by the university, the hostel and adjacent warden’s house were demolished. However, the chapel built thanks to Isabella Honan’s will still survives. 





Supported by the university’s then-president, Sir Bertram Windle, and on a site beside the now-lost hostel, O’Connell opted to use much of the Honan Bequest to construct a ‘noble and dignified’ building that would serve as a chapel for use by the students. His intention was that this structure would ‘call into life again the spirit and the work of an age when Irishmen built churches and nobly adorned them under an impulse of native genius’ and for this reason, its design would be in the Hiberno-Romanesque style. O’Connell was also very keen that Irish craftsmen and Irish materials would be used in the construction and for the greater part this was the case. A local architectural firm, McMullen & Associates, designed the chapel which was built by John Sisk & Son of Cork. The foundation stone was laid in May 1915 and the building was consecrated in November 1916, an astonishingly short period of time, especially since the work took place in the middle of the First World War. The chapel’s exterior, faced in locally-quarried limestone ashlar, is largely devoid of ornament other than the western entrance facade, featuring a blind arcade and gabled portal inspired by that of St Cronan’s Church in Roscrea, County Tipperary (see Still Standing « The Irish Aesthete).  Henry Emery of Dublin, assisted by apprentices from Cork Technical School carved the stone capitals of Munster saints on either side of the door, while the statue of St Finbarr above is the work of Oliver Sheppard. Drawing inspiration from familiar Celtic designs, the wrought-iron gates were by William A. Scott, professor of architecture in University College, Dublin (he was also responsible for the silver sanctuary lamp). Inside the barrel-vaulted building, 11 of the 19 stained glass windows were designed by the young Harry Clarke – this was his first significant commission after leaving the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art – while others were produced by Alfred Child, Ethel Rhind and Catherine O’Brien. Inside the chancel, the arcading was inspired by Cormac’s Chapel on the Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary, while the gabled tabernacle was designed by enamellist Oswald Reeves and other items like altar hanging, liturgical banners and cushions came from the Dun Emer Guild. In fact, O’Connell’s ambition to have the entire building reflect the very best of contemporary Irish design and manufacture was let down in only two places: the Stations of the Cross and the mosaic floor illustrating the River of Life: both of these came from the Manchester firm of Ludwig Oppenheimer Ltd. In the early 1980s, like so many other Catholic churches in this country, the interior of the Honan Chapel was reordered to reflect changes introduced following the Second Vatican Council. However, more recently a thorough restoration of the building was undertaken and so today it looks much as originally intended, aside from the introduction of some rather strange mauve lighting around the windows which has the effect of making it hard to see the stained glass clearly. An unfortunate and unnecessary intervention on the site.


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Scenes from a Cathedral’s History


‘In 1561 Armagh was in possession of the English who fortified the cathedral, making it a place of arms as a check upon O’Neill. Shane, in revenge, attacked and captured the city, burning it, with the Cathedral and the Franciscan Monastery; his excuse for this wanton destruction being “that he would not have the English to lodge therein.” Camden writes, “In our memory, the church and city of Armagh were so foully defaced by the rebel, Shane O’Neill, that they lost all their ancient beauty and glory, and nothing remaineth at this day, but a few small wattled cottages, with the ruinous walls of a monastery, priory, and the primate’s palace”.’
From the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Volume II,  October 1895.





‘Immediately after Dr Robinson’s promotion to the primacy [1765], he determined to repair the cathedral, to which purpose he appropriated a considerable sum…His Grace commenced his improvements by slating the western aisle which had been previously shingled, and by fitting it up in a more complete manner for divine service. It is to be lamented that in effecting this latter object, he removed the ancient and beautiful tracery windows which had adorned the building and substituted inelegant lights in their place (since superseded). About the same time, he presented to the choir a new organ, possessed of many stops, and of most pleasing and powerful tones…In 1782, ” Primate Robinson had determined to build a tower on the cathedral of Armagh, in imitation of that of Magdalen College, in Oxford. His architect, Mr. Cooley, examined the walls and gave his opinion as to the practicability of the undertaking. The work went on till the close of the year 1783. The tower, which was to have been elevated 101 feet in height, had been, at this period, raised 60 feet above the roof of the church, when the north-west pier and the arches springing out of it shewed symptoms of giving way by over pressure. Precautions were instantly taken, arches built up in the body of the church, and additional buttresses joined. Thus aided, it was deemed by the best architects fully sufficient to bear the proposed tower: the more ponderous part of the building having been already raised, and three-fourths of the whole weight placed on piers and arches duly and powerfully supported. Some old ladies, however, who were in the habit of regularly attending divine service, imagined that the entire fabric would tumble and bury the congregation in its ruins. Their fears spread and the church was in danger of being deserted. Primate Robinson then ordered the new tower to be pulled down, even to the roof of the building from whence it sprang, that is, to the very spot from which the old one, carrying its spire, cross and weather-cock had been removed. Thus ended the Magdalen steeple.’
From Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh, by James Stuart (1900)





‘Lord John George Beresford succeeded to the Primacy in 1822, and to him may properly be ascribed the beautiful appearance which our venerable Cathedral presents to the eye of the beholder. At what period it was constructed, in the form which it has come down to tho present time, is a matter of great uncertainty. Inglis writes that it is the ” oldest Cathedral Church in Ireland. Part of this venerable edifice was erected in the reign of Henry III, and the remainder part in the time of Edward III.” Shortly after his promotion to the See, his Grace determined to repair the ancient structure, and Mr. Cottingham, an eminent architect, was instructed to examine the building. That gentleman, having minutely examined it, gave a most favourable report of its condition, stating that about £8,000 would put it into serviceable order. This sum his Grace at once consented to pay. The foundation stone of one of the piers was laid in great solemnity on 21st May, 1834, in presence of about 0,000 persons, who came to witness the interesting ceremony. During divine service, the Cathedral Choir, assisted by an instrumental band placed on an orchestra, temporarily fitted up, performed the Dettingen Te Deum, and several anthems from the Messiah.’
From Record of the City of Armagh, by Edward Rogers (1861)


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A Partial Restoration



In the first decades of the 19th century, many old places of worship in Ireland were restored or rebuilt thanks to funds from the Board of First Fruits. In Lorrha, County Tipperary, St Ruadháns church is thought to have been constructed on the site of the early monastery founded by the eponymous Ruadhán in 540. On the south wall, an arched doorway features a carved head which may represent Walter de Burgh and have been taken from the nearby Augustinian Abbey (see Former Greatness « The Irish Aesthete). Below it, a pointed doorway with decoration was added in the 15th century; it is decorated with rose motifs, vine leaves and a pelican drawing blood from its breast. According to Samuel Lewis writing in 1837, the building had been ‘recently repaired by a grant of £113 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.’ While the nave was left a ruin, the chancel was restored to provide a church suitable for a relatively small congregation.



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The Subject of Dispute


In the early 1670s, an unseemly dispute broke out between members of the Franciscan and Dominican orders over which of them were entitled to occupy a priory in Carlingford, County Louth. Following appeals by both sides to Pope Clement X, Oliver Plunkett, then Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland, was required to settle the matter and in July 1671, following a visitation to the site, he wrote the the Papal Internuncio, ‘I find that the monastery formerly belonged to the Dominicans and that they had a convent there, the walls of which are still standing. But the Franciscans argue that for many years, and almost within the memory of man, the Dominicans were not permanently in these convents, that therefore they must be considered as abandoned, and that a prescription now exists in favour of the Franciscans. The Dominicans answer that during persecution prescription is of no avail.’ Following further consultations, Plunkett decreed in favour of the Dominicans, declaring that they had produced the authority of Ware [the historian Sir James Ware, ironically a Protestant], who says that the convent of Carlingford, under the patronage of the Earl of Ulster, belongs to the Dominicans. They, moreover, produced an instrument of the 10th year of Henry VIII, by which a citizen of Carlingford named Mariman made over a house and garden to the Dominicans of the convent of Carlingford. Again in the Dublin Register, called Defective Titles, mention is made of this convent, and they also adduced the evidence of old persons who had seen Dominicans residing near the convent before the reign of Cromwell.’ Nevertheless, the Franciscans refused to relinquish their claim, and it was not until 1678 that the matter was finally settled when Clement’s successor, Innocent XI, issued a Papal decree ordering that the Dominicans be left peacefully in the monastery.




Carlingford Priory is traditionally said to owe its origins to Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, who in 1305 invited the Dominican Order to settle in a site within the town. On the other hand, the Irish Historic Towns Atlas records, however, that the Dominican priory was endowed by the merchants of Carlingford in 1352. Whatever the truth, it certainly thrived although, having initially stood within the town walls, following a decline in population during the mid-14th century as a result of the Black Death, the buildings came to lie immediately outside Carlingford to the south. Dedicated to St Malachy, like so many other religious establishments in Ireland, the priory was fortified during the 15th century, as a result of almost constant warfare between different familial alliances. In 1540, when the priory was surveyed as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was described as a ‘strong mansion in need of no expenditure on repairs’ and being on ‘every side strongly fortified.’ In 1552, the property, along with others formerly held by religious orders in Newry, was granted by the English crown to Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Marshall of the Army in Ireland. How long he and his descendants held the former priory is open to question since by 1613 a number of Franciscan friars were in residence, hence their later altercation with the Dominicans over which order was entitled to be there. The latter may have won that fight but they do not appear to have lingered too long in the priory, described by a visitor in 1703 as being an old chapel and monastery in ruins and in 1726 the place was ‘defaced’ by William Stannus, then in the process of constructing Ghan House to the immediate north. In 1767 the Dominican friars moved to Dundalk, which remained their base thereafter. Meanwhile, over the next couple of centuries parts of the old friary came to serve various purposes: as a base for local herring fishermen, as a barracks and as a handball alley. 




Today, what remains of the Dominican Priory of St Malachy is the church, a tall and narrow shell being 125 feet long and 22 feet wide. Like so many others, the roofless building is divided into two sections of nave and chancel, the transition from one to another marked by a bell tower which was added in the 15th century. This was likely when the west wall of the building was crenellated, with a square turret at each corner and between them a machicolation resting on corbels. Between this and the small door is evidence of a blocked-up round arched window. The same is true for many of the openings on the north and south sides of the building. Where windows remain, they have lost everything but their outline; this is especially evident at the east end, which was once almost filled by a great arched window some 15 feet wide. Nothing of great consequence survives of the conventual buildings which would have stood to the immediate south of the church, with a cloister off which would have opened a number of spaces including refectory, kitchen and dormitories. All now gone, with just the gable end of a now-lost building, perhaps added during the Bagenal period of occupation and attached to what looks like the lower part of a tower house.. A short distance to the east are scant remains of a water-mill, and what may have been a fish-pond. Hard to believe that this spot was once the subject of fierce dispute between two religious orders.

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Designed rather for Military than Ecclesiastical Purposes


‘The churchyard of Mainham is situated close to a remarkable moat near the entrance gate to Clongowes Wood College, the former residence of a family named BROWNE who in their day called the place Castle Browne which reverted to its present ancient name when this well-known Roman Catholic College was founded there. Extensive remains of the old church and buildings in connection with it still exist. By the side of the little trefoiled-headed window of the chancel is a small circular mural table with the following inscription:-
+
IHS
Here lieth ye body of Margrate DILON who deceased February ye 7th 1816 aged 68 years. & also ye body of Danniall BYRN who deceased May ye 30 17_8 aged 77 years.
Erected by Barnaby BYRN
A small coat-of-arms, of the O’BYRNE family is cut in relief below the inscription.’
Lord Walter FitzGerald, Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead, 1904




The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, otherwise known as the Knights Hospitaller, was a mediaeval military order founded in the early 12th century. Originally established to care for pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem during the Crusades, the order developed into an international body of mounted knights. Members took an oath to provide hospitality for the sick, injured and poor, while also training for warfare in defence of Christianity. The Knights Hospitaller arrived in Ireland around the same time as the Cambro-Normans and here, as elsewhere, the order was organised around a central Priory and Preceptories. In 1174, Richard de Clare, otherwise known as Strongbow, established the Priory of Ireland and Hospital of St John at Kilmainham on the outskirts of Dublin: it stood to the west of the site where the Royal Hospital Kilmainham now stands (some of the stones of the old priory were supposedly incorporated into the hospital’s chapel). Eventually the order had 129 preceptories across the country, including one already seen here at Kilteel, County Kildare (see Inside the Pale « The Irish Aesthete). Elsewhere in the county, another was found at Mainham. 




According to the Rev. M Comerford in Collections relating to the Dioceses of Kildare And Leighlin (1883), ‘the old parochial church of Mainham, or Menham, still exists in ruins. It was about 65 feet in length, by 18 in width. A tower with a stone staircase, stands on the south-eastern side and appears to have been designed rather for military than ecclesiastical purposes. The church-ruin stands in the midst of an extensive burial-ground.’ Little has changed since this was written, indeed the church was already recorded as being a ruin by the mid-17th century. Like so many other such places in Ireland, even after the building ceased to be used for religious services, it continued to be used as a burial site, with a number of attractive old funerary monuments found here, not least that mentioned above. 


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Inspiring Reverential Awe


‘The foundation-charter of this abbey is in the Monasticon Anglicanum, and recites, that Harvey of Mount Maurice, who was Seneschal to Richard Earl of Pembroke, made a grant of divers lands to St.Mary and St.Benedict, and to the monks of the abbey of Blidewas in Shropshire, for erecting an abbey at Dunbrody for Cistercian monks; to this charter Felix, Bishop of Ossory, is witness, who was promoted to that see in the year 1178. This place is in the barony of Shelburn, four miles south of New Ross. The Cistercians, from their first introduction into this isle by St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, were much favoured by the Irish nobility, and not less by the English. Hence they everywhere acquired immense possessions, and were enabled to execute in the best style, their different religious houses. Richard, Earl of Pembroke and Walter, his grandson, were benefactors to Dunbrody.
Harlewin, Bishop of Leighlin, was interred in the abbey-church, A. D. 1216, a great part of which he caused to be erected, and Edward III. in 1348, granted a confirmation of all the possessions of this abbey, and so did Henry IV. in 1402.’





‘Perhaps the most extraordinary instance of a sacrilegious plunderer that occurs in our ecclesiastical annals is that of Alexander Devereux or De Ebroico, the last abbot of Dunbrody. By deed dated the 10th of May 1522, he granted to his relation, Stephen Devereux, the town and villages of Battlestown, little and great Haggart, Ballygow and Ballycorean, for the term of sixty-one years, at the annual rent of twenty-two marks, and having thus liberally provided for his family, he surrendered the abbacy, and was consecrated Bishop of Ferns in 1539, in St. Patrick’s, Dublin, by George Brown, Archbishop of Dublin, and others. In this see he continued the same course as before at Dunbrody. He leased to his brother, James Devereux, and his kinsmen Philip and William Devereux, almost all his see-lands, at small rents. After presiding at Ferns for almost twenty-seven years, he died at Feathard in 1566.’





‘The ruins of Dunbrody are great, and have a grandeur, which at first sight inspires reverential awe; to which the solitude of the place and its wilderness not a little contribute. The walls of the church are pretty entire, as is the chancel. In the church are three chapels vaulted and groined. The great aile is divided into three parts by a double row of arches, supported by square piers, the inside of the arches have a moulding which springs from beautiful consoles. The tower is rather low in proportion to the building, and is supported by a grand arch, very little inferior to that of Boyle and Ballintubber: The foundation of the cloisters only remains, they were spacious. The western window is of an uncommon form, and the western door under it magnificent, with filigree open work cut in the stone, of which one single bit now  survives, and that almost worn smooth by time, but raised enough to put the finger under it.’

Extracts from The Antiquities of Ireland by Francis Grose (Dublin, 1791)
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So Ruin’d by ye Wars


‘Of ye Cathedral at present ye Choir only is roof’d & in repair, which is indeed long & lofty; ye Stalls &c. plain; They were put up by Archbishop Palliser, who was in other particulars a Benefactor to this Fabrick, before His time so ruin’d by ye Wars, as to be unfit for divine Service. And even now, there is not above twice a year any Use made of it, that It is not kept so neat & clean as might be otherwise expected.’ This extract from the diary kept by John Loveday during a tour through parts of Ireland (as well as England, Wales and Scotland) in 1732 gives an account of the condition of the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary at that time. St Patrick’s Rock, an outcrop erupting above the surrounding plains, was for many centuries both a stronghold of the Kings of Munster and the site of a great cathedral, the whole surrounded by stone walls. Like many religious buildings, it suffered neglect during the 16th century so that by 1607 it was described as being in a state of decay. Repair work on the building was then undertaken but all of these improvements would be undone during the Confederate Wars. 





In 1647 Murrough O’Brien, first Earl of Inchiquin, president of Munster and commander of the parliamentary forces in that province, sought to bring it under his authority by embarking on a scorched earth policy. This would lead to him being known as ‘Murchadh na dTóiteán’ (Murrough of the Burnings). By September, Inchiquin and his army had reached Cashel where the citizenry – having received reports of terrible assaults inflicted by the force elsewhere in the surrounding area – took refuge within the walls of the Rock. When Inchiquin arrived, he called for those inside the enclosure to surrender within an hour. Believing it impregnable, they refused to do so, and accordingly an assault on the Rock began, with the parliamentary army gaining access inside the main compound, thereby forcing the defenders, estimated to number around 1,000, to take refuge within the church. Although held off at the doors, Inchiquin’s troops swarmed in through the building’s windows and then engaged in appalling acts of slaughter, so that only a handful of those inside survived. The church itself was stripped of anything valuable and according to legend, Inchiquin – whose forebear Brian Boru had been crowned High King of Ireland in the same place – made a mockery of the Roman Catholic faith by parading around in the bishop’s mitre. According to a contemporary, the Jesuit Provincial Fr Andrew Sall, ‘The large crucifix that towered above the entrance to the choir had its head, hands and feet cut off, the organ was broken, and the bells, whose chimes cheered our soldiers as they fought, were deprived of their clappers and their beautiful tone…All the passages, even the altars, chapels, sacristies, bell-tower steps, and seats were so thickly covered with corpses, that one could not walk a step without treading on a dead body.’ 





Some twenty years would pass before any work was undertaken on the Rock’s buildings: extant Chapter minutes for June 1667 record that timber should be procured ‘to rebuild the chancel or quire’ of the cathedral, the intention being to restore for Divine worship, not the entire fabric of the structure but just the choir and chancel. Gradually, over the next few decades, improvements were made to this part of the site. In 1674, for example, accounts show that £20 was spent on roofing the steeple but then the upheavals of the late 1680s caused further disruption and a halt to any further improvements here. Only in the second half of the 1690s did serious restoration commence again, with £80 being committed for the arching of the cathedral choir and other work, along with a contract being issued for the glazing and painting of the windows in this part of the old building. By the 1720s, regular services were taking place in the cathedral, or at least at its east end in the chancel and choir. In 1723 two silk curtains were provided for the stalls of the Dean and Precentor, and the following year £4 8s. was paid for a large Bible as well as two Books of Common Prayer for the Communion Table. Finally in 1730, Theophilus Bolton was officially enthroned in the building, seemingly the first Archbishop to do so in a long time. Bolton took a particular interest in the cathedral, writing to Jonathan Swift in April 1735, ‘I am now wholly employed in digging up rocks and making the way easier to the church, which if I can succeed in I design to repair a very venerable old fabric that was built here in the time of our ignorant (as we are pleased to call them) ancestors. I really intend to lay out a thousand pounds to preserve this old church ; and I am sure you would be of service to posterity if you assisted me in the doing of it.’ Whether Bolton actually embarked on this repair is unclear, but in any case, following his death in 1744 he was succeeded by Arthur Price, remembered as the man responsible for ensuring the cathedral would no longer be used for religious services. Price’s motivation for doing so is unclear: popular belief has it that his coach and four had trouble with the ascent and he therefore decided to embark on building a new cathedral on flat ground close to his palace. In any case, in September 1748, the Chapter met with the archbishop and drew up a memorial for presentation to the Lords Justices and Irish Privy Council. Amongst other points, this document noted that the cathedral was not only ‘so incommodiously situated that resort to it for Service was always difficult, and in tempestuous weather scarcely practicable’ but also that ‘There was no likelihood of it ever being repaired, owing to the inconvenience of the site, and also because there was no fund belonging to it sufficient thereto.’ Instead, it was proposed that the parish church of St John the Baptist be raised to cathedral status and thereby assume the role hitherto held by the building on the Rock. The Privy Council duly authorised this change, and in September, 1750, the Chapter ordered that the timber of the roof ‘and the other necessaries belonging to the old cathedral’ be taken down and deposited in some safe place, until the same could conveniently be employed for the enlargement and use of the new one only. It appears at least some of this wood was used as piles under the foundations of the new cathedral. But one last religious service was held in the building on the Rock, because on October 12th 1752, following Price’s death, his successor John Whitcombe ‘was this day enthroned as well in the ancient Cathedral- on the Rock as in the present Cathedral and Parochial Church.’ Thereafter, it was left to fall into disrepair.


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Sweet Innisfallen


‘Innisfallen, it is paying no great compliment to say it is the most beautiful in the king’s dominions, and perhaps in Europe. It contains twenty acres of land, and has every variety that the range of beauty, unmixed with the sublime, can give. The general feature is that of wood; the surface undulates into swelling hills, and sinks into little vales; the slopes are in every direction, the declivities die gently away, forming those slight inequalities which are the greatest beauty of dressed grounds. The little valleys let in views of the surrounding lake between the hills, while the swells break the regular outline of the water, and give to the whole an agreeable confusion. The wood has all the variety into which nature has thrown the surface; in some parts it is so thick as to appear impenetrable, and secludes all farther view; in others, it breaks into tufts of tall timber, under which cattle feed. Here they open, as if to offer to the spectator the view of the naked lawn; in others close, as if purposely to forbid a more prying examination. Trees of large size and commanding figure form in some places natural arches; the ivy mixing with the branches, and hanging across in festoons of foliage, while on one side the lake glitters among the trees, and on the other a thick gloom dwells in the recesses of the wood. The figure of the island renders one part a beautiful object to another; for the coast being broken and indented, forms bays surrounded either with rock or wood: slight promontories shoot into the lake, whose rocky edges are crowned with wood. These are the great features of Innisfallen; the slighter touches are full of beauties easily imagined by the reader. Every circumstance of the wood, the water, the rocks, and lawn, are characteristic, and have a beauty in the assemblage from mere disposition. I must, however, observe that this delicious retreat is not kept as one could wish…as to what might be made of the island, if its noble proprietor (Lord Kenmare) had an inclination, it admits of being converted into a terrestrial paradise; lawning with the intermixture of other shrubs and wood, and a little dress, would make it an example of what ornamented grounds might be, but which not one in a thousand is. Take the island, however, as it is, with its few imperfections, and where are we to find such another? What a delicious retreat! an emperor could not bestow such a one as Innisfallen; with a cottage, a few cows, and a swarm of poultry, is it possible that happiness should refuse to be a guest here?
From A Tour in Ireland, with general observations on the present state of that kingdom in 1776–78, by Arthur Young (London, 1780) 





‘Innisfallen Island, about half-way between the east and the west shores of the lake [Lough Leane], is interesting on account of the historical associations connected with it, the charm thrown around it by the poetry of Moore, and more especially for its own exceeding beauty. Of all islands it is perhaps the most delightful.
The island appears from the lake or the adjoining shore to be densely covered with magnificent timber and gigantic evergreens, but upon landing, the interior of the island will be found to afford a variety of scenery well worthy of a visit — beautiful glades and lawns, embellished by thickets of flowering shrubs and evergreens, amongst which the arbutus and hollies are conspicuous for their size and beauty. Many of the timber trees are oaks, out the greater number are magnificent old ash trees of remarkable magnitude and luxuriance of growth.
The Abbey, whose ruins are near the landing-place, is believed to have been founded about 650 by St. Finian, to whom the cathedral of Aghadoe was dedicated. In the east end are two lancet windows, which, with this gable, have been recently re- stored. A little away to the right is the small “Romanesque” church standing by itself. The round-headed West doorway, with remains of well-carved mouldings, is, architecturally, the best thing on the island, and may date back as far as the 11th century. ”Quiet, innocent, and tender is that lovely spot,” wrote the delighted Thackeray after his visit in 1842.’
From Black’s Guide to Killarney and the South of Ireland by Adam and James Black (Edinburgh, 1876)





‘Moore has sung the praises of this island in the following lines :
“Sweet Innisfallen, fare thee well,
May calm and sunshine long be thine!
How fair thou art let others tell
To feel how fair shall long be mine.
Sweet Innisfallen, long shall dwell
In memory’s dream that sunny smile,
Which o’er thee on that evening fell,
When first I saw thy fairy isle.”
Innisfallen Abbey is supposed to have been founded by St. Finan about the year 600. The ruins lie scattered about the island. The celebrated ” Annals of Innisfallen ” were composed here by two monks. This work, which is among the earliest records of Irish history, was written on parchment. The original manuscript, containing fifty-seven quarto leaves, is now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford; but it was preserved for several centuries in the Abbey of Innisfallen. It contains a History of the World down to the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland in the year 432, and from that period it is a History of Ireland down to 1320. There are several copies of the work in existence, one of which is in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. From many passages in these Annals we learn that the monks did not seem to have enjoyed their little isle altogether unmolested in the so-called “good old times.” In one place we read thus: — “Anno 11 80. This Abbey of Innisfallen being ever esteemed a paradise and a secure sanctuary, the treasure and the most valuable effects of the whole county were deposited in the hands of the clergy ; notwithstanding which, we find the abbey was plundered in this year by Mildwin, son of Daniel O’Donoghue. Many of the clergy were slain, and even in their cemetery by the McCarthys. But God soon punished this act of impiety and sacrilege, by bringing many of its authors to an untimely end”.’ From Souvenir of the lakes of Killarney and Glengariff published by T Nelson & Sons (London, 1892)


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Once Sumptuous


Buttevant: ‘It is called in the Ecclesiastical books Bothon; by the Irish and Spencer, Kilnemullagh; and was formerly an antient corporation, being once governed by a mayor and aldermen; but by the wars it has gone to decay; ‘tis said to have suffered greatly by the last plague in Ireland. There are still to be seen the remains of a wall that surrounded the town; in this place are the remains of the once sumptuous abbey of Buttevant, founded by David de Barry (who lies buried therein) in the reign of Edw. 1st. He was lord justice of Ireland, and his tomb remains in the choir, opposite the great altar. The walls of the choir, with the nave of the church and several other buildings remain entire; also the steeple, which is a high square erected on a large gothic arch. To the S. is St Mary’s Chapel, in which are several tombs of antient Irish families; on the N.W. side of the abbey stands a ruined tower, said to have been erected by an earl of Desmond, who retired here; ‘tis called Cullin. On each side of the W. entrance of the abbey, are large piles of skulls, which some say were brought thither after the Battle of Knocknanoise, which was fought but five miles from hence.’
From Topographia Hibernica: or the Topography of Ireland, Antient and Modern, by Wm. Wenman Seward (Dublin, 1795)





‘To the south is St Mary’s Chapel, in which are several tombs of ancient Irish families, viz the Barrys, Magners, Fitz-Geralds, Prendergasts, O’Callaghans, Donegans, Meads, Dowlings, and Healys. In this chapel are the remains of an altar, and two others in the nave of the church, on each side of the choir, in which are other tombs of the Barrys, Nagles, Lombards and Supples; also, one of a later date, of Mr. Richard Morgan, who died October 15, 1748, in the 107th year of his age. This man lived above 70 years at Castle-Pooky, near Doneraile; he had been clerk of the crown and peace for this county, in king James’s time, never eat salt with his meat, and died with no other complaint than the mere effect of old age. Beside the above-mentioned tombs, there are others of the Coghlans, Mac Auliffs and O’Kiefs. About 12 years ago, as they were making a grave, the body of a woman was discovered, who had been buried here 20 years before quite whole and entire; she died of the small-pox. The skin appeared hard, dry and very stiff, of a dark brown colour; she was interred in a dry vault between two lime walls, through which the wind and air had a free passage; which probably contributed to parch up the body, and keep it so long from corruption.’
From The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork by Charles Smith (Cork, 1815)





‘The ruins of the abbey are finely situated on the steep bank of the river Awbeg, and consist chiefly of the walls of the nave, chancel and some portions of the domestic buildings; the upper part of the central tower, supported on arches of light and graceful elevation, fell down in 1814; the tomb of the founder, David de Barry, is supposed to be in the centre of the chancel, but is marked only by some broken stones which appear to have formed an enclosure. On the south side of the nave are the remains of a finely proportioned chapel in which, and also in the nave and chancel, are numerous tombs and inscriptions to the memory of the Barrys, Fitzgeralds, Lombards and others.’
From A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis (London, 1837) 


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A Place of Pilgrimage



June 23rd 1752: ‘This country being entirely unknown I have been the more particular in relation to it, for my own satisfaction. From the Ferry I went westward along the Strand, and passed under an old Church called Kilkenny, a chapel of Ease to Enniskeel, a mile farther I came to a village called Balyaristan: and having a letter to Mr. Stewart the Minister of Inniskeel I came in two miles to his house, the first half on the strand and the remainder within the sand banks ; opposite to it is a small Island called Keel or Inniskeel (Island Bed) in which are two churches, about one the Protestants bury, and at the other the Papists; At low water they ride over to it.’
From Richard Pococke’s Tour of Ireland in 1752, edited by George T. Stokes (Dublin, 1891)




No longer to be seen on Inishkeel or indeed in this part of the world: St Conall’s Bell and Shrine. Made of iron, the original plain hand bell, used to summon the local people to services, likely dates from the 7th or 8th century. It is indicative of the growing fame of St Conall that several hundred years later, this simple device was decorated with a bronze mount and then, in the 15th century, an elaborate shrine of bronze and silver parcel-gilt, with silver plates, rock crystal studs and a chain, was made to house the implement. Both the bell and its shrine were kept for many centuries by the local O’Breslin family, supposedly descendants of the saint’s family, and would be exhibited annually during celebrations of his feast day (May 22nd) when pilgrims gathered on Inishkeel. Writing for the Ordnance Survey in 1835, described how ‘This chain O’Breslin threw around his neck, and from it the bell hung down his breast, exhibiting to the enthusiastic pilgrims the glittering gems and the symbol of the bloody sacrifice.’ At some date around this time, the bell and shrine were purchased by Major James Nesbitt, a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Donegal, who lived a little further south in a house called Woodhill. The items then passed through a couple of hands before being bought by the English antiquarian and collector Augustus Wollaston Franks who in 1889 presented them to the British Museum where he served as Keeper of British and Medieval Antiquities. Bell and shrine remain in the museum’s collection to the present day, although they were loaned for exhibition in the Donegal County Museum ten years ago.
Inishkeel is a little island off the coast of south-west County Donegal, only accessible on foot when the tide is sufficiently low. Here, in the late 6th century, Saint Conall Cael, about whom almost nothing is known, founded a monastic settlement which, like so many others, in due course became a renowned place of pilgrimage. Remains of two small churches, one dedicated to St Conall, the other to the Virgin, both dating from the 13th century and later, can be seen here. They have each undergone some restoration work (the east end of the St Conall’s church has evidently been reconstructed, since numbers can be seen on many of its stones). There are also several cross slabs still standing, including two on which carved decorations of interlaced design may still be seen: one of them is believed to have been the shaft of a high cross from the 11th/12th century. When the buildings here fell out of use is unclear, but the island continued to be populated into the 19th century: the 1841 census shows there were 16 people living on Inishkeel. Today, while one roofed house still stands, it is otherwise uninhabited. Looking at the scant remains, it is difficult to believe that this was once the centre of a thriving monastic community and a place to which pilgrims flocked. 




No longer to be found on Inishkeel or indeed in this part of the world: St Conall’s Bell and Shrine. Made of iron, the original plain hand bell, used to summon the local people to services, likely dates from the 7th or 8th century. It is indicative of the growing fame of St Conall that several hundred years later, this simple device was decorated with a bronze mount and then, in the 15th century, an elaborate shrine of bronze and silver parcel-gilt, with silver plates, rock crystal studs and a chain, was made to house the implement. Both the bell and its shrine were kept for many centuries by the local O’Breslin family, supposedly descendants of the saint’s family, and would be exhibited annually during celebrations of his feast day (May 22nd) when pilgrims gathered on Inishkeel. Writing for the Ordnance Survey in 1835, described how ‘This chain O’Breslin threw around his neck, and from it the bell hung down his breast, exhibiting to the enthusiastic pilgrims the glittering gems and the symbol of the bloody sacrifice.’ At some date around this time, the bell and shrine were purchased by Major James Nesbitt, a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Donegal, who lived a little further south in a house called Woodhill. The items then passed through a couple of hands before being bought by the English antiquarian and collector Augustus Wollaston Franks who in 1889 presented them to the British Museum where he served as Keeper of British and Medieval Antiquities. Bell and shrine remain in the museum’s collection to the present day, although they were loaned for exhibition in the Donegal County Museum ten years ago. 



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