Temple Cronan Hiberno-Romanesque Church and Gable Shrines

Temple Cronan (Templecronan, Teampall Chrónáin) is a beautiful old Church believed to originally date from the 12th Century.

It is located in Termon, County Clare in the Burren area.

There were alterations in the 15th Century to the Church as evidenced by the Gothic style doorway in the North wall.

It is believed the Church was founded by a Saint Cronan although which Saint Cronan is unclear. 

Cronan of Roscrea in Tipperary is mentioned often in association with the Church at Termon.

The Church is described as an oratory which includes both Hiberno-Romanesque features and later medieval elements. It has proven difficult to date accurately however it most likely replaced an early wooden Church on the site.

It has many interesting features including carved human heads and animal figures alongside a trabeate (horizontal lintel) style doorway and a beautiful window with Romanesque "button" detailing.

There are two wonderful examples of early Gable Shrines at Temple Cronan. One is sometimes referred to as Saint Cronan's Bed.

These rare Shrines would possibly have contained the remains of early Christian era venerables or important Holy men or women. 

They are believed to predate the Church by several centuries and are perhaps of a 7th Century date. This would make them at least 1,300 years old.

The Church itself is constructed in a "Cyclopean" masonry style which just means large irregular blocks of stone were used in its construction.

There are the remains of some unusual stone enclosures on the approach into Temple Cronan and these too have proven difficult to date. It is impossible to know if these rudimentary enclosures are prehistoric or of a later time period.

Inside the Church is a long rectangular slab which seems to contain a shallow Bullaun although no Bullaun Stone is recorded here.

There are the remains of a High Cross, a Holy Well and a Penitential Station near the Church although I didn't get time to see these on my quick visit. 

All in all I was lucky to get to pay a visit as I passed Temple Cronan almost by accident on my travels elsewhere.

 With its Burren backdrop and rural location I'll definitely be back for a proper visit sometime again. It seemed to be an almost magical place.

Coordinates here : 

53°02'46.3"N 9°03'39.7"W

53.046187, -9.061021

Rural, remote and idyllic.

Some of the carved stone figures from Temple Cronan.

Temple Cronan is signposted from the road which passes it.

Some images from the nearby Burren which is a Limestone Karst landscape.

Kilgory and Saint Longory's Well, Laois

 Away behind Crettyard and close to Castlecomer located in a nice bucolic setting is to be found Saint Longory's Well. This part of Laois is a mere "stones throw" from the County border with Kilkenny and it's a nice area to visit.

Saint Longory's Holy Well and an old Graveyard are located here along with a modern little grotto where small groups probably gather for Mass. 

This site was once visited by many pilgrims and was host to an annual Patten day, a day of Worship dedicated to the feast day of the Patron Saint. In this case it was Saint Longory (or perhaps Lon or Longarra).

Interpreting Kilgory I read it as the Church of (Lon) Gory however I am led to believe that in Irish Kilgory is known as Cill Gabhra "the Church of Gabhair".

 

It should be remembered that many place-names were anglicised into English before being switched back into Irish again and Irish can be descriptive of many different things. As such Irish place-names can be difficult to correctly interpret sometimes.

The Chronicler Reverend John Canon O'Hanlon in Volume 6 of the "Lives of the Irish Saints" refers to Saint Lon of Cill Gobhra and a festival entered into the Martyrology of Tallagh surrounding him. 

He also says "There is a Kilgory in the Parish of Killabban and Barony of Slieve-margy, Queen's County" and goes on to say that there are other Kilgorys in both Clare and Donegal.

Early Irish Christianity has left us with the names of many little known and obscure Saints. 

As to whether Saint Lon, Saint Longory or Saint Longarra ever founded a Church at Kilgory is anyone's guess. Either way it's still a nice place to visit and enjoy some quiet contemplatation.

As each decade passes more and more of these little Well's and places of ancient veneration are disappearing or being filled in and forgotten about. 

Secular in both outlook and belief I nonetheless hope that most of those that remain will be around for future generations to enjoy and to remind of us of times past and our sometimes forgotten history.

Coordinates here:

52°49'42.5"N 7°07'04.9"W
52.828460 - 7.118021

Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae - Saint Lon- garadh

  Kilgory by T.P. Lyng

dúchas.ie - Kilgory (Schools Collections)

Baltinglass Hill Passage Tombs and Rathcoran Hillfort

Baltinglass Hill Passage Tombs

This post is just a quick link inserted below to a full page on the Passage Tombs at Baltinglass Hill and Rathcoran Hillfort in west Wicklow.

Baltinglass Hill Passage Tombs 

 

 

The Page has more information and a lot of photographs from the site.

 

Coordinates here :

52°56'49.2"N 6°40'60.0"W

52.947001 - 6.683330

 Keep the wheels turning.

The Nine Hole Stone revisited.

The Nine-hole Stone

 

Not so much a proper post but just quickly putting up a few more photographs of Offaly's Nine-hole Stone. 

A large Bullaun with ten depressions and a small channel carved into it. 

These photo's should be at a higher resolution. Keep the wheels turning.

 

The Wart Stone, Offaly

 The Wart Stone

Not far from the Nine Hole stone in Offaly lies an equally interesting and unusual Bullaun Stone known as 

"The Wart Stone".

The Wart Stone is a large single Bullaun which is elongated and somewhat table shaped. 

It is believed the Wart Stone was once used as an Altar during the Penal Laws in Ireland which outlawed open worship by Catholics and Protestant "Dissenters" such as Methodists, Calvinists and Presbyterians. 

The laws were introduced from the 1600's onwards in an effort to promote the Anglican Church of Ireland to a position of primacy in Ireland. 

They ultimately failed to achieve that objective and today the remains of many beautiful but long abandoned Anglican Churches are scattered across Ireland. 

During much of this era Priests who practised their religion or offered the rites of Mass were often hunted down and flogged or killed. 

"Mass Rocks" became the primary place of worship for those who found their faith outlawed. 

These were often large boulders or rocks which would have been used in place of an Altar while Mass was celebrated in a hidden field or hollow.

To show some scale there is a bottle in some of the photographs. 

Although secular in outlook I almost felt blasphemous for placing a modern plastic bottle onto an ancient stone, especially one that was so unusual.

Bullaun Stones with their origins lost in the mists of time seem to exude a special charm. 

They are enigmatic. 

In a world where everything demands explanation isn't it nice when there is something which remains a little mysterious. 

Something of which although we know its latter use we can't figure out where it began or originated from.

Coordinates here: 

53°15'00.5"N 7°26'05.6"W
53.250129 - 7.434895

Keep the wheels turning.