Killeshin, County Laois

If you’d like to receive daily updates about great heritage sites to visit in Ireland then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

The remains of the monastic site at Killeshin really is one of Ireland's best hidden gems. It was originally founded in the sixth century by St. Dermot, but it was St. Comhdan who became the patron of the site.

Killeshin had a turbulent history with many accounts of raids by warring Irish tribes, particularly in the 11th century. It was plundered and demolished in 1041, and it is recorded that Diarmuid, son of Mael na mBó, was responsible. He was lord of the tribe known as the Ui Ceinnsealaigh who were mortal enemies of the Ui Bairrche tribe that held the lands around Killeshin. It is reputed that Diarmuid tore down or ‘broke’ the oratory on the site, killed over one hundred people and took hundreds more as slaves. More desecration was recorded in 1077, when the monastery was again raided and several yew trees were burned. This was a clear act of defiance and desecration as yew trees were often planted by monks to mark the sacred boundaries of monasteries. 

The church that can be seen on the site today was built on the site of the broken oratory. It was built in the twelfth century, in the Romanesque architectural style. Killeshin is one of Ireland's finest examples of this style of architecture which features rounded arches and highly decorated doorways. At Killeshin, the doorway is absolutely magnificent. There are four arches around the doorway featuring carvings of chrevron, zig-zag, animal and foliage design. The capitals of the arches have human faces carved on them with different expressions and some even beards on their faces. Some suggest that use of shallow carvings and different colour stone indicates that this doorway was probably painted. There are also two inscriptions carved into the doorway. One inscription is for Cellachan - who may have been the master stone mason or artist on the site. The other inscription refers to Diarmuid Mac Murrough, the King of Leinster from around 1126 to 1171. He is the man that is credited with inviting the Normans into Ireland. It has been suggested that the boundary between the two warring tribes, the Ui Bairrche and Ui Chennselaigh, was incorporated into a new diocese in 1152, and this may have prompted Diarmuid as the King over the entire province to commission this masterpiece of Irish craftsmanship and continental design. 

The chancel of the church, where the altar would have stood, was probably built years after the nave and doorway. The windows that can be seen in the wall of the chancel are ogee headed and this style was used in around the 15th and 16th centuries. A round tower once stood to the north west of the church. This round tower was probably constructed in the tenth or eleventh century. Round Towers were important status symbols for monasteries and would have been used as bell towers and look outs. The round tower at Killeshin was unfortunately pulled down in 1703  by Captain Wolseley. It was said that a local farmer was afraid that masonry from the tower might fall on his cows. The stone from the round tower was used to build houses in the locality. A medieval baptismal font can still be seen outside the wonderful doorway. 

Baptismal Font

When the Norman mercenaries came to Ireland to help Diarmuid Mac Murrough defeat his enemies, tracts of land throughout Leinster came into Norman ownership. When Diarmuid died shortly after the initial wave of Normans landed on the eastern shores of Ireland,  their leader, Richard de Clare, became the Lord of Leinster and he granted the lands around Killeshin to a loyal knight named de Clahull. He constructed a motte-and-bailey, and later a castle, in a field across the road from the monastery at Killeshin. Today there is no visible trace of that castle, but a flat mound can still be made out in the field where the castle would have once stood. The monastery at Killeshin became a parish church after the Norman conquest and it survived the Reformation, continuing in use up until the nineteenth century. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com. Discover more about the story of Killeshin and the other incredibly atmospheric ancient churches and monasteries of County Laois by downloading the free audioguide The Laois Monastic Trail  available from http://bit.ly/REEssb

If you’d like to receive daily updates about great heritage sites then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Derrynaflan, County Tipperary

If you’d like to receive daily updates about great heritage sites to visit in Ireland then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter  and Google+.

Derrynaflan, also known as Gobán Saor’s Island, is situated in the middle of Littleton bog in County Tipperary. The name derives from the Oak Wood of the Two Flanns, a reference to two prominent clerics who lived here during the ninth century. It has over a thousand years of history as an ecclesiastical settlement – from as far back as the early medieval period to the 1700s.

The site first appears in our historical records when a monastery was said to have been founded here by Saint Ruadhan of Lorrha in the sixth century. Derrynaflan reached its zenith in the eighth and ninth century, when it became home to the Celi Dé (or Culdee) movement. This Christian sect were noted for their very austere way of life.

Derrynaflan is reputed to be the burial place of An Gobán Saor (Gobán the builder), a famed architect, stonemason and builder of churches in Ireland in the decades around 600 AD. He is said to have been born near Malahide, Co Dublin in 560 AD. A wealth of folklore abounds concerning the life of An Gobán.

One tale tells how on one occasion he was building a monastery, and as he neared completion, the monks decided to lower his wages and cheat him of his dues. Gobán refused to negotiate, so the monks took away all his ladders and scaffolding until he agreed, leaving him trapped high on the building. This did not deter Gobán though, he simply began to throw down stone after stone of the building, saying it was an easy way as any to descend, the monks reluctantly relented and paid him the agreed fee.

The interior of the church

Another story concerns his shrewd wife Ruaidhseach. Gobán and his son were labouring for seven years to build a fine castle for a king. The wily king planned to have them killed when they finished it so they could not build as fine a fortress for any of his rivals. Gobán heard of his wicked plans and sent word to the king that he couldn’t finish the castle without a particular tool called a “crooked and straight”.

Bullaun Stone inside the church

The King, fearing treachery, would not allow Gobán and his son to leave to fetch the tool, so he sent his own son in their place. What the king did not guess, was that the ‘crooked and straight’ was actually a warning code for his wife, Ruaidhseach. When the Prince came demanding the ‘crooked and straight’ she told him it was at the bottom of a deep casket. When the Prince bent over to find it she quickly threw him in and sealed the casket, sending word to the King that if he wished to see his son again then he should release Gobán and her son which he promptly did. Three graveslabs on the eastern side of the island are said to mark the burial place of the Gobán and his family.

The land for Derrynaflan was probably granted by the powerful Eoganacht dynasty from their base in Cashel, however when the Eoganacht’s power began to wane by the end of the ninth century, the monastic community at Derrynaflan also went into decline.

The site was reinvigorated during the twelfth century, and the ruined church at Derrynaflan represents these two different periods. The small single-roomed church of the early medieval period was incorporated into a larger nave-and-chancel church in the twelfth century. This was a traditional layout during the medieval period, the chancel was the part of the church which housed the altar and where the priests, monks or clergy would have sat during mass, while the nave was for the common people. Outside the church you can see one wall of an enclosure nearby. A small Franciscan community continued largely unnoticed on the island between 1676 and 1717. This was during a period of suppression of the Catholic Church in Ireland, when the harsh Penal Laws held sway, following the Cromwellian Conquest and Williamite Wars.

In 1980 an incredible hoard of ecclesiastical metalwork was discovered nearby, including a beautiful silver chalice accompanied by a patten and wine strainer. These objects were thought to have been hidden for safekeeping sometime in the 9th or early 10th century, but never recovered. Perhaps the person who hid them was killed or captured in a raid by Vikings or Irish warriors from a rival tribe. These magnificent artefacts are now on display in the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street. 

The magnificent silver chalice of Derrynaflan

In recent years, life has begun to return to the old church site of Derrynaflan, as dawn mass on Easter Sunday morning on the island has become an annual event. To hear more of the story of Derrynaflan try our free MP3 audioguide, available from here. 

To get to Derrynaflan from the Laffansbridge direction, take the R691 at Laffansbridge. Turn left here (signposted for Cashel). After approx. 1.5 km turn right off this road onto the road signed L5402, which is a narrow third-class road. Follow this road for 2 km and then turn right (no signpost) on a laneway into the old village of Lurgoe, about 1km from Derrynaflan. It is possible to drive further from this point, but the laneways are narrow and unpaved and you will need to open and close several gates, so proceeding from here on foot is recommended. If you are at Horse & Jockey, just after the Hotel, turn left (signpost for Ballinure) and 200m down this road, take the second left junction. Continue along this road for 2.5 km. A laneway to the right leads towards Derrynaflan. It is recommended that you park here and proceed on foot southwards to Derrynaflan Island. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, if you’d like to support us please consider downloading one of our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from AbartaAudioGuides.com.

If you’d like to receive daily updates about great heritage sites then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter  and Google+.

St. Doulagh's Church, County Dublin

If you’d like to receive daily updates and images of great heritage sites then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

The interior of the 19th century part of the church

Every now and again a heritage site really surprises me. We were out on Friday looking at sites in the North County Dublin / Fingal region, and we really enjoyed visiting the town of Swords with it’s fine round tower and castle. After a lunch stop at Malahide Castle, we decided to stop at a church called St. Doulagh’s that was nearby. We thought it would be a ten minute stop but we were extremely lucky that we bumped into Victor, who works at the site and he gave us a fascinating guided tour of a truly remarkable building. 

The medieval font

St. Doulagh’s is still used as a Church of Ireland place of worship, and on first entering the church it appears as a very nice, but not particularly unusual place, with fine oak vaulting on the ceiling and the stately but welcoming feel typical of a lot of Church of Ireland buildings. However the first clue of the buildings antiquity was the plain medieval baptismal font that is still in use today. And when we were led into the vestry in the old part of the church, the sheer history of the building became very apparent. 

A medieval piscina and fragments of a medieval sculpture in the vestry

A monastery is believed to have been founded here by the little-known, seventh century anchorite hermit Saint Doulagh. However the earliest historical reference to the church dates from the ninth century, in the Martyrology of Oengus. In that text the church is called Duilech Cain Clochair. The site has many of the features of an early medieval monastery, in the 1980s excavations by the archaeologist Leo Swan discovered a number of burials and the enclosure ditches that once surrounded the monastery. 

The church building is a fascinating mish-mash of a number of different periods, and it can be extremely difficult to work out which features date to what period. The eastern end of the building is thought to be the earliest. It has a very steeply vaulted stone roof and has a croft or living quarters for the monks. It is a little reminiscent of the vaulted stone roof of St. Kevin’s Church at Glendalough, or St. Colmcille’s House in Kells. This part of the building is thought to date to the twelfth century, making St. Doulagh’s the oldest stone-roofed church still in use as a place of worship. The tall central tower is thought to have been added in the fifteenth century, and you can access a number of the rooms from the exceptionally narrow spiral staircase

The very narrow spiral staircase

In the entrance hall there is a small ‘hermit’s cell’ which is reputed to be the burial place of St. Doulagh himself. From there you can access the handsome 19th century church that adjoins the older building. 

In the grounds of the churchyard you can find a lovely octagonal building covering St. Doulagh’s Holy Well and it is a charming and atmospheric spot. The interior was covered with frescoes in the early seventeenth century, painted in 1609 by a Mr Fagan, of Feltrim, though Victor the guide informed us that they were destroyed in the aftermath of the Williamite Wars. 

Just behind this well you can find another well dedicated to St. Catherine. It appears as an underground bath enclosed by a rectangular vaulted building, but this one is unfortunately not accessible at present. Just on the outside of the site near the entrance you can find an early medieval plain granite cross on a modern stepped-base. This was said to have been moved from the inside of the churchyard in the late 18th century. 

I strongly recommend a visit to St. Doulagh’s, it is a really fascinating building with a great atmosphere. St. Doulagh’s church is located at Balgriffin, on the Malahide Road, some 600 metres north of Balgriffin Cemetery. It is on the bus route 42 or 43 from Dublin City Centre.

St. Doulagh's Well

The early-medieval granite cross

Tours are available from May to September on Sundays from 2.30pm - 5.30pm. Tours can be arranged at other times for school, families, historical societies and heritage groups by contacting The Friends of St Doulagh's, see their website for more details: http://www.fingaldublin.ie/interior-pages/activities-attractions-amp-conference/castles-churches-and-towers/st-doulaghs-church/

I hope you enjoy our blog, and if you have any suggestions for historical sites you’d like me to cover please do get in touch at info@abartaaudioguides.com. If you'd like to support us please check out our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from www.AbartaAudioGuides.com.
If you’d like to receive daily updates and images of great heritage sites then please consider following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Some Sources and Further Reading

Baker, C. 2010. Antiquities of Old Fingal (Wordwell, Dublin) 

Harbison, P. 1982. St. Doulagh’s Church (in Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Vol. 71, No. 281)

Monasterboice, County Louth

Monasterboice in County Louth is home to the most spectacular high crosses in Ireland. The name Monasterboice derives from Mainistir Bhuithe (Buithe’s Monastery), as a monastery was thought to have been founded here by St. Buithe in the 6th Century. Over time this monastery flourished and grew in both size and prominence. Archaeologists studying aerial photography of the area, identified three concentric enclosures surrounding the core of the site, with the outer enclosure having a diameter of at least 600m (1968ft) enclosing a massive 24 hectares. Today all that is visible is the very heart of the monastery, with a fine round tower and three high crosses, one of which is arguably the finest high cross in Ireland.

The Round Tower

Monasterboice is still used as a graveyard today, and there are good paths that lead the visitor through the site. As well as the early medieval high crosses and round tower, you can also see the remains of two small stone churches. These probably date to the late medieval period, and probably date to around the fifteenth century. Within one of the churches you can see a small bullaun stone. This stone with a circular hollow may have been used as a rudimentary holy water font during the early days of the monastery, or perhaps used as a large version of a mortar-and-pestle, maybe to grind herbs, ore for metallurgy, or pigments for manuscript illustration. 

The round tower is a fine example, and stands at 28m (approximately 92ft) high. The iconic Irish Round Towers are thought to have been primarily constructed as bell towers as they are known as ‘cloigh teach’ in Irish Gaelic which translates to ‘bell house’. They would have also been visible from miles around, and as such they would have acted like a signpost to weary pilgrims on the route to Monasterboice. The round tower here was said to have housed the monasteries library and other treasures, unfortunately though it is recorded as being burned in 1097.

B&W Image of one of the churches with the tall West Cross on the right

The path through the graveyard to the Round Tower

South Cross (Muiredach’s Cross)

The Eastern Face of the South Cross

The incredible South Cross is arguably the finest example of a high cross in Ireland. It probably dates to the early tenth century, as it is very similar to the West Cross at Clonmacnoise that was dated to c.904–916 AD. Like the Clonmacnoise example, the South Cross at Monasterboice also bears an inscription, asking for ‘a prayer for Muiredach’. It seems likely that this refers to Muiredach who died in 924 AD. He was the abbot of Monasterboice, and the vice-abbot of Armagh. He was also the chief steward of the powerful Southern Uí Néill dynasty, making him an incredibly important and influential figure in both religious and secular Ireland.

Depiction of The Last Judgement

The Western Face of the South Cross

My photographs cannot do the South Cross justice. It simply is one of the most important and visually stunning examples of early medieval sculpture in the world. The centrepiece of the crosshead on the eastern side is an amazing depiction of the Last Judgement. The largest figure in the centre is Christ with a phoenix representing the resurrection or perhaps the Holy Spirit, above him. Directly below you can see souls being weighed. To Jesus's right hand side (the left of the image) you can see the souls that have been saved, and nearest to Jesus you can see David playing his lyre. To the left hand side of Christ (on the right of the image) you can see the damned, the poor souls being driven into hell by a demon baring a trident.

The rest of the  cross is taken up with biblical depictions. For example in this image you can see Moses standing with a staff and drawing water forth from the rock. The crowd of people are the thirsty Israelites. The image is a visual representation of the story in Numbers 20:7–13. I’m not a huge fan of Wikipedia, but they have a really good guide to the depictions on the cross http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muiredach%27s_High_Cross.  

Moses (standing with staff) draws water from the rock

On the south facing side of the cross you can see this image of a snake eating its own tail while coiling around three human heads. Originally I thought that it could be a reference to the snake in the Garden of Eden, or perhaps some sort of warning of serpents dragging sinners to eternal damnation (to be fair the heads don’t look cheerful, and the poor chap in the middle looks like he was caught with a mouthful of crisps), however I was wrong. Thanks to the author of the excellent blog on Christianity in Early Medieval Ireland http://voxhiberionacum.wordpress.com I now know that the snake eating its own tail represents eternity and eternal life, and the heads are being lifted up towards God rather than plunging down into hell. It’s from John 3:14-15:

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

It’s a representation that can be found at a number of 9–10th century Irish high crosses, like the West Cross at Clonmacnoise for example. 

Depiction of Adam and Eve on the left (note the serpent coiled around the tree) and Cain murdering Abel on the right

The West Cross 

The Eastern Face of the West Cross

The Western Face of the West Cross

The West Cross is the tallest High Cross in Ireland, standing at a massive 6.5m tall. Thanks to its size, it also has the largest number of figure sculpture panels of any High Cross. Like the South Cross these are also beautifully carved with depictions representing biblical stories from both the Old and New Testaments. You can see a great guide to the depictions on the National Museum of Ireland’s website here. 

Close up of the Western Face of the West Cross

The North Cross

The North Cross

You can find the North Cross within a small fenced area at the very northern boundary of the site, (as you first enter the site turn right and follow the path keeping the wall on your right hand side). It is much plainer than the South and West Crosses, though it is still worth a look as it has some lovely carvings. Next to it you can see an interesting [and rare] sundial, that would have marked the passing of time for the monks of Monasterboice indicating the canonical hours of 9am, 12pm and 3pm. In this small fenced area you can also see some other architectural fragments from the site. 

The Sundial

We took a trip to Monasterboice on a beautiful crisp morning on the 11th January 2014 and found it to be a wonderfully rewarding place to visit. The site is well signposted off the M1, around 8km north-west of Drogheda in County Louth. After your visit I recommend a short 10min drive to Mellifont Abbey, another beautiful site situated very close by. While you’re in the area if you enjoyed the stunning early medieval high crosses why not take a short spin down to Kells in County Meath, where you can find more fantastic examples of early medieval high crosses. We have a FREE audioguide to Kells full of facts, stories, legends and history. To download your free MP3 please visit http://abartaaudioguides.com/our-guides/Kells-Audio-Guide or to download a free audio-visual app for Apple or Android visit here https://www.guidigo.com/A6QzbS7ImVo

This is our first blogpost of 2014. We have so many more of Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites to share with you that I hope to up our output to one or two blogposts a week if possible. I’m planning on tweaking the blog a little so if you have any suggestions of key information you’d like me to include please do drop me a line to info@abartaaudioguides.com or feel free to leave a comment below. I’d really value your input.

As a new addition here is a table with some key information:

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Neil’s company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

If you’d like to support us please consider downloading an audioguide from abartaaudioguides.com: they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland’s iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores, download one of our guides and let Abarta whisk you off to ancient Ireland!

All images © Neil Jackman/Abarta Audio Guides

Some Sources and Recommended Reading:

Edwards, N. 2002. The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. (Routledge, London)

Hamlin, A. and Hughes, K. 1997. The Modern Traveller to the Early Irish Church. (Four Courts Press, Dublin)

Ó Carragáin, T. 2010. Churches in Early Medieval Ireland. (Yale, Singapore).

Ó Cróinín, D. (ed) 2005. A New History of Ireland, Prehistoric and Early Ireland (Oxford University Press, New York).

Aghadoe Church, Killarney, County Kerry

If you'd like to see daily posts and images about Ireland's fantastic historical sites please consider following Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

Aghadoe Church and Round Tower just outside Killarney in County Kerry, is certainly in a picturesque setting. Little remains of the early medieval monastery that was founded here by Saint Finian the Leper in the 7th Century. As with most early medieval monastic sites, the majority of the original buildings were probably constructed from timber. However no visible traces of those remain, and we are left with a stone church and the base of a round tower.

The stone church looks to have at least three phases of construction and parts have been extensively reconstructed by the Office of Public Works. The western end may be the oldest. This might be traces of the great church of Achadh Dá Eo, that was completed in 1158 by Amhlaoibh O’Donoghue and dedicated to the Holy Trinity and to Saint Mary. It has a wonderful Romanesque doorway, with an incredibly detailed sculpted arch made from sandstone blocks, this is likely to have been reconstructed some time in the nineteenth century. 

The eastern wall has windows that were probably inserted in the thirteenth century, if you look closely at the windows on the inside of the church you can see a small sculpted decoration (perhaps a flower or a butterfly) and a rather worried looking head. Nearby embedded on top of the southern wall, you can also see a large slab with ogham script that reads BRRUANANN. This could have been a simple grave marker bearing a single name.

You can also see this unusual crucifixion scene that dates from the late 1600s or early 1700s. The interior of the church and the exterior are full of graves, some dating to the eighteenth century but many modern graves can be seen too. 

The unusual crucifixion scene that possibly dates to the late 1600s.

The bullaun stone

There is little remaining of the round tower other than a short stump. It is made of similar sandstone to the church, and also seems to have been partially reconstructed. Presumably in the nineteenth century when the romanesque doorway was reconstructed. You can also find a bullaun stone on the northern side of the church. These small hollowed stones are often associated with early medieval ecclesiastical sites, they may have been rudimentary holy water fonts or perhaps even used as large mortar and pestle type features to grind herbs, cereals or minerals.

Nearby to Aghadoe you can also find the remains of Parkavonear Castle. There isn't much left standing today but this circular tower that is thought to date to the thirteenth century. 

It is another echo of a time shortly after the Norman invasions, when they began to try to protect their conquests. Initially they constructed fortifications of earth and timber, but as they became more established they replaced these with castles of stone.

Aghadoe Church is certainly worth a visit for the incredible views of the surrounding landscape. You can find it on Aghadoe Heights, just two miles NNW of Killarney adjacent to the Aghadoe Heights Hotel.

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Neil’s company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

If you’d like to support us please consider downloading an audioguide from abartaaudioguides.com: they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland’s iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores, download one of our guides and let Abarta whisk you off to ancient Ireland!


All images © Neil Jackman/Abarta Audio Guides

A view of Ross Castle from Aghadoe Church