Saint Carthage at Rahan
(Copy of a Post)
Rahan
in Offaly is located between the Clodiagh river and the Grand Canal in
an idylic setting. Nice, quiet and peaceful with some beautiful
antiquities and interesting history what's not to like?
There
are two wonderful Churches located at Rahan, both with Romanesque
features. A further ruin of which little remains has been described as a
possible third Church however it's more likely the remains of a Tower
House judging by the thickness of its walls.
There
is an OPW information board outside the Church and unfortunately it is
confusing to interpret. It took me a while to figure this out and it's
not the first time I've been confused by an incorrect or misleading OPW
informantion panel.
It's
believed that a Monastery was established here in the 5th Century by
someone known as Camelacus however very little seems to be known about
this figure from history.
Saint Carthach aka Carthage/Mochuta re-established a monastic community on the site sometime in the 6th Century.
Carthach
was originally from the North Kerry area and eventually left Rahan and
founded another Monastery at Lismore in Waterford.
It
would appear from the records that Carthach was quite austere and a
hard taskmaster. Life at Rahan was reputedly tough and eventually
Carthach and his followers were forced to leave Rahan for good by the
King of Meath and his soldiers.
He journeyed to Lismore and founded another Monastery here and is believed to have died circa 637 A.D.
The
main Church at Rahan is believed to have been constructed around 1150
and is incorporated into a later Church which was built in 1732. The
partial remains of the trancepts of an unusual cruciform Romanesque Church are
still preserved as are a beautiful Romanesque doorway and Rose window.
I
have never had the opportunity to enter the Church but I believe there
is a surviving Chancel arch of three orders, a Sheela na Gig and several
other interesting early relics inside should you be lucky enough to
find it open.
Surrounding the Monastic enclosure is a clearly visible embankment which was probably the original boundary of the settlement.
Not
far from the main Church and lying nearby in open green pasture is a
further Church which is believed to date from the 15 or 16th Century.
This
Church too has also incorporated earlier Romanesque elements including
its beautiful Romanesque doorway and it has both simple windows and
later ornately carved ogee windows. There are animal carvings and a
human head which are hard to spot unless you look closely.
The
final ancient construction lies in a corner of the adjacent graveyard
and has been referred to both as a Church and as a Castle/Tower House
depending upon which source you look up.
Judging
by the depth and thickness of the surviving walls it appears as if it
were more likely a Tower House which has long since been destroyed over
the intervening centuries and wasn't recorded. That's just a guess on my
part.
Hopefully
Covid 19 movement restrictions will soon be lifted and you can go and
enjoy a few hours wandering around beautiful Rahan.
Keep the wheels turning.......
P.S.
Not far from Rahan at Killina is a tiny Memorial Garden which has among
other things a Penal Law Mass Rock, Saint Anthony's Holy Well and a
lovely Bullaun Stone. It's worth visiting if in the area and I'll do a
post on it at some other time.
Co-ordinates Here :
53°16'44.3"N 7°36'48.8"W
53.278960-7.613544
