Kilrush Heritage Centre, Kilrush, Clare

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Location
(52°38′13″N, 9°29′33″W)
Site Location
Kilrush
National Grid Reference
Q 99 55
Boundaries
pre-1974 traditional (Republic of Ireland) Clare now Clare
Diocese
medieval Killaloe now Killaloe
Dedication
medieval St Senan
Type of building/monument
Report authors
  • Tessa Garton
Visit Date
12 June 2003

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Feature Sets
Description

Romanesque fragments stored in an office of the Scattery Island Centre in Kilrush. For a description of the site itself, see Scattery Island.  The stones have been numbered by Duchas 000500-000507.

History

The fragments have been removed from Scattery Island. A monastery was founded on Scattery (Inis Cathaigh) by St. Senan in the 6thc. The island was plundered in 1057 and 1176. Churches were desecrated by William Hoel, an Englishman, in 1179. It became part of the diocese of Limerick in the 12thc.


Features

Loose Sculpture

Comments/Opinions

The moulded stone (d) is similar to the chancel arch fragments in the oratory and St. Senan's on Scattery Island. The human head on (a) is similar to those on the re-used capitals in the Cathedral on Scattery Island, although it is carved on a flat face rather than on an angle. The chevron with foliage in the triangles (d and e) can be compared to that on the S doorway at Killaloe Cathedral and the N window and some fragments at Tuamgraney, although it is less complex and three-dimensional. The foliage designs on (b) and (c) suggest an elaborate program of Romanesque sculpture, and the interlaced foliage on (c) is similar to that on the S doorway at Dysert O'Dea.

Bibliography

Gleeson, Dermot F., 'The collegiate church of Iniscathaigh', North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol.2, 1940-41, pp. 14-30.

Ní Ghrádaigh, J., 'Scattery Island's forgotten Romanesque', Archaeology Ireland, Vol.20, No.4, Winter 2006, pp. 26-30.

Westropp, T. J., 'The Churches of County Clare, and the Origin of the Ecclesiastical Divisions in that County', Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 22, 1900, pp.100-89, at p. 169.

Westropp, T. J., 'Proceedings: Scattery or Iniscatha', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol.27, 1897, pp. 276-86.