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Tomregan church, Ballyconnell, Cavan

Location
(54°6′37″N, 7°35′16″W)
Ballyconnell (Tomregan)
H 27 18
pre-1974 traditional (Republic of Ireland) Cavan
now Cavan
medieval Kilmore
now Kilmore
  • Rachel Moss

Please use this link to cite this page - https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=14325.

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Feature Sets
Description

Church of Ireland graveyard, with a 12thc. carved stone in the grounds.

History

In the early 1960s the stone was moved from a ditch about half a mile from Tomregan and erected outside the Church of Ireland church at Ballyconnell. Although there is no definite proof of its provenance, the stone is reputed to have come from the parish of Tomregan where there are still traces of a church and round tower. During the 7thc. the Abbot of Tomregan was St Briccine, a famous surgeon.

Features

Exterior Features

Other

Comments/Opinions

Traditionally the carving is said to have come from the window of the round tower at Tomregan. If this was the case the carving would be unique in Ireland, as no other figure sculpture in Ireland is combined so thoroughly with an architectural feature. The nature of the carving is also unique whether as a male exhibitionist or (following McNab's interpretation) a soul being tormented in Hell.

Bibliography

A. Weir, 'Three carved figures in Co. Louth', County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society Journal, 19:1 (1977), 71.

J. Andersen, The Witch on the Wall, London and Copenhagen, 1977, 152.

H. Hickey, Images of Stone; Figure Sculpture of the Lough Erne Basin, Belfast, 1976, 62.

K. M. Dickie, 'Stone Figure from Tomregan, Co. Cavan' , Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 93 (1963), 198–9.

S. McNab, 'Twelfth Century Figure Sculpture in Ireland', PhD thesis, University of Dublin, 1987, 294–6.

O.Davis, "Some Churches in Co. Cavan", Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 78 (1948), 117.

S.McNab, 'From Tomregan to Inishcealtra: Irish Twelfth Century Stone Sculpture', Irish Arts Review, 13 (1997), 32-34.