Ballyvourney, Cork

I Location

Site Location
Ballyvourney
National Grid Reference
21W 20 77
County
Cork
Dedication
Teampall Ghobhnachtan
Type of building/monument
Church (ruin)

II General Description

Ruined church of late medieval date, with re-used Romanesque head set in E gable of nave, over the chancel arch. There is also a late medieval sheela-na-gig over the S window.

IV Interior Features

5. Interior Decoration

c. Miscellaneous

(i) Corbel
Gable over chancel arch, from nave

Gable over chancel arch, from nave

Gable over chancel arch, detail, human head

Gable over chancel arch, detail, human head

Human head corbel set into the rubble wall of the E gable of the nave. Fairly worn but with features still distinguishable. The facial features are small and neatly carved. The head projects from the wall and is fully three-dimensional.

VII History

A monastery for nuns was built by St Abban for St Gobnata. St Gobnata and the ruined church were still being venerated in the 18thc. The nunnery may have been founded in the 6th or 7thc. and is unlikely to have existed after c.1172 (Gwynn and Hadcock, 1970, 313).

VIII Comments/Opinions

The head is described as a voussoir in the Shell Guide to Ireland, but there is no evidence of any voussoir-shaped stone where it is set into the wall and it appears rather to have been a corbel. The style suggests a probable 12thc. date.

IX Bibliography

  • Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N., Medieval Religious Houses, Ireland, Dublin, 1970, 313.
  • Henry, F., ‘The Decorated Stones at Ballyvourney’, JCHAS, 112, no.185, 1952.
  • O hEaluighthe, D., ‘St Gobnat of Ballyvourney’, JCHAS, 57, 1952, 43-61.
  • O’Kelly, M. J., ‘St. Gobnat’s House, Ballyvourney, Co. Cork’, JCHAS, 57, 1952, 18-40.
  • Power, D. et al , Archaeological Inventory of Co. Cork, Vol. III, Dublin, 1997, 378.
  • Killanin, M. and Duignan, M., The Shell Guide to Ireland, London, 1962, 3rd ed. 1989, 365.