Friday 15 September 2023

Fuerty Cross Slabs, Roscommon

Fuerty Cross Slabs

Sometimes once in a while you find yourself passing through a small place which at first glance appears to be in the middle of nowhere.

Quite some years ago just such happenstance occured to me as I was passing through a place called Fuerty in County Roscommon, Ireland.

In a quirk of fate little did I know at the time that the rural and somewhat isolated Fuerty is associated with both Ireland's most prominent patron Saint, Saint Patrick, and also with the founder of the Monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise, Saint Ciarán/Kieran.

Somewhat illustrious connections to say the least. Contemporary accounts tell of Saint Patrick appointing a Deacon, Iostus/Justus/Justinius, to found a Monastery at Fuerty. There may also have been an early Nunnery in this area.

According to several accounts Saint Ciarán was born at Fuerty and was baptised by and subsequently studied under Iostus for a period of time.

Fuerty Ancient Abbey and Church ruin, Roscommon

The Christian Cross Slabs at Fuerty have been inserted into the wall of the Church Belltower. They are reputed to date from the 8th Century and are of Sandstone.

I believe there is another Cross Slab used as a Gravemarker but I didn't spot it on my visit. There is also another Cross fragment from Fuerty housed in the National Museum.

One of the slabs is also adorned with a delightful carving of a fish which is unusual to see on early Irish Cross slabs. Presumably this carving of a fish is a representative of Christian iconography. It was hugely engaging in its simplicity.

Partial inscriptions in Irish are also visible on the Slabs.

Old Post and Telegraph Phonebox, Castlecoote, Roscommon

Not far from Fuerty and about 2.5 km along the R366 is Castlecoote where I came across an old Department of Posts and Telegraphs Phonebox.

It had some clippings about the area posted inside it, a nice touch. There was a Garage here beside the River Suck where I grabbed an Ice Cream cone.

I also came across a link to Castlecoote Georgian House

of which at the time of writing I know very little.

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This fascinating article;

A Quirky Case of Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Propaganda (Part1)

by vox hiberionacum

goes into great detail on Fuerty, the Saints and Deacon Iostus.

The basic thread of the article is about the differing contemporary interpretations of historic events and societal structures versus actual historical reality on the ground at the time the events occured.

It's a recurring theme in the modern interpretation and retelling of ancient historical figures and texts whether they be mythological warriors or Saintly men and women. Sometimes it is difficult to taste whether the soup has had a pinch of Salt added or not.

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There is a very good article linked below (open access) at JSTOR entitled ;

On Two Inscribed Stones at Fuerty.

It has some interesting information pertaining to the Fuerty Cross Slabs.

Denis H. Kelly

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (1836-1869)

Screenshots below.

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An old King Edward the 7th

(ER VII) Postbox/Wallbox

across the road from the Church at Fuerty.

Fuerty Abbey, Church and Ancient Graveyard.

Below is an old roadside Milepost/Milestone opposite the Church. This one is marked Dublin 71 miles but it is much weathered and faded.

These generally date from the 1700 and 1800's and indicated distances to major cities, towns and villages. There are not many left standing "in Situ" today so its always nice to come across one when travelling.

I always think of horses and Coach drawn carriages when I see them and am probably overly romanticizing them but they are nice to see dotted here and there about the countryside nonetheless.

The large Mill Wheel below is also located directly across from the Church ruins at Fuerty. It has been repurposed and put to good use in this instance. Nice.

The ruin pictured below is on the road from Fuerty going towards Castlecoote, the R366. I couldn't find any information on it so I'm unsure as to exactly what it once was. Was it a Church, Coach House, Blacksmiths ?

I've really no idea however it's a substantial building of well constructed cut stone.

Pictured lastly is one of the very few La Téne stones in Ireland, the Castlestrange stone.

There are just three examples of these in the Country. The aforementioned Castlestrange, the Kilcluggin and the Truroe Stones.

These stones are believed to have Celtic influences and are dated to the Iron age. I am including Castlestrange as it is near Fuerty and was in fact where I was headed when I initailly came across the Fuerty Cross Slabs.