Wednesday, 11 October 2023

Tinnakill Castle, Laois

Tinnakill Castle

First and foremost my gratitude is due to the landowner who farms here for his permission to enter and photograph this Laois Tower House.

Without his help this post would have little to no photographic record of this wonderful local antiquity which is steeped in history.

The Castle is located in a rural area somewhat midway between Mountmellick and Portarlington.

From what I have gathered online the Castle was once called Tynekill Castle. It is an Irish Tower House and is believed to date between the late 16th or early 17th century.

Having been granted to the MacDonnells circa. 1562 we can assume it had previous inhabitants who were dispossessed so presumably it's quite likely the Castle dates to a period slightly earlier than that mentioned online.

There was purportedly a Sheela na Gig removed from the Castle and inserted into a garden wall alongside another, possibly taken from nearby Portnahinch Church ruins.

When enquiries were made in an effort to locate them they were both reported as destroyed with the fragments used as building material.

A fishy sounding story if ever there were one and quite likely nothing but Codswallop.

We will never know exactly what happened to these valuable artifacts but with less than 130 examples in the Country their loss is both unquantifiable and immeasurable.

Tinnakill was for most of its working life a MacDonnell Castle.

The MacDonnells were Scottish "planters" who settled in this area.

The Laois/Offaly plantation of the mid 1500's which began under Queen Mary was just one of a number of attempts to remove both the native population and "unfaithful" early settlers from the land and replace them with "planters", chiefly English, Scottish and Welsh.

The "planters" were granted lands and titles by the English Monarch in order to subdue and control Ireland and reap the subsequent economic rewards.

The plantation of Laois/Offaly proved to be a particularly successful endeavor.

Laois became Queen's County, named after Queen Mary I, with Maryborough, now Portlaoise, as its County seat.

Offaly became King's County and was named such after Mary's husband, the King of Spain, King Philip II.

Philipstown, now Daingan, was its County seat.

It was strange times indeed when an Irish midlands town could logically be named after a Spanish King.

The MacDonnells were granted the right to the Castle on the understanding that they maintained a number of Gallowglass soldiers (9 to 12) ready for use by the Crown forces should they be requested and if requested they be "victualled" for three days.

I have lost my original source of reference but in a twist of faith and within a generation a subsequent head of the MacDonnell Clan at Tinnakill was no longer a trusted servant of the Crown but rather a renegade with a bounty placed on his head.

MacDonnell Family Tree, Tinnakill, Laois

How quick indeed the winds of change do blow.

The Tinnakill Duanaire is an early 17th century manuscript containing 83 "bardic religious poems" and is unusual for its type in being chiefly written on Sheepskin parchment.

It was owned by the MacDonnells and in now housed in Trinity College Dublin. I have listed a link to the full manuscript at dias.ie online below.

Portnahinch Church ruin, Laois

Portnahinch Church Ruin

Located not far from the town of Mountmellick in Laois lies the small Church ruin of Portnahinch.

Today it is quite easy to fly past on the road that runs alongside almost without even noticing its presence.

At the present time there in confusion as to the date of its original construction and there are no early records of a Church at this site.

The rudimentary construction of a window opening has been taken as suggestive of the14th century however with no records before, during and after that period of a Church here for many centuries the building is also suggested as originating in the 17th century.

This seems a more likely date for its construction.

The earliest gravestones are dated to the 1700's and the small enclosure is well maintained with the surrounding grass regularly cut.

The nearby River Barrow, one of the "Three Sisters" rivers system delineates the County boundary at this point between Laois and Offaly.

Fling a stone across the river and it will land in neighboring Offaly.

Nearby is Tinnakill Castle, an old Irish Tower House.

Not far from the ruin is the Garryhinch crossroads where a Queen Victoria (VR - Victoria Regina) Postbox/Wallbox can be found inserted into the wall.

There's not a great deal to see at the Church ruin but it's a tranquil spot and worth taking a few minutes out here in quiet contemplation.

Keep the wheels turning.

Coordinates here:

53°08'18.3"N 7°16'06.4"W

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.