Wakeman's handbook of Irish antiquities

by W. F. Wakeman

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral.​—​The Cathedrals of St. Patrick and Christchurch, Dublin, were, for the most part, built about the same period, the former (commenced in 1190) upon the site of an older church, by John Comyn and his successor Henry de Loundres (1212–28), Archbishops of Dublin. Its prevailing style is Early or First Pointed, and it is remarkable as the only structure in Ireland having original flying buttresses. The nave, choir, and transepts are ascribed to London masons; and the graceful features of the Lady Chapel have a marked resemblance to contemporary work in the Temple Church. It was carefully restored by Carpenter in 1845. The Cathedral suffered many vicissitudes and rebuildings, so as almost to destroy all details of the original features. In 1869 it was restored at the sole expense of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, at a cost of £150,000. A recent restoration, under the direction of Sir Thomas Drew, includes the choir and lateral aisles, and the replacing of stone groining. Though in point of size and architectural grandeur St. Patrick’s cannot be compared with many structures of the same class elsewhere, it is, nevertheless, a very chaste and beautiful building.

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Christchurch.​—​Christchurch was originally founded in 1038 by Sigtryg, son of Amlaf, King of the Danes of Dublin, in conjunction with Donatus, the first Danish bishop; the crypt beneath nearly all the church represents the original plan. The oldest portions of the ancient building, raised by Strongbow and St. Laurence O’Toole on the Danish foundation in 1170, are the transepts, some of the arches of which display chevron mouldings, and the Norman doorway, which forms the principal entrance. It was removed some years ago from the north transept, and placed in its present position, where it forms a conspicuous feature. The nave (circa 1230) has the distinctive features of the English mason work of Glastonbury; and, as in the case of Kilkenny Cathedral (thirteenth century) and other buildings, it is very probable that the designers and builders were brought from the south-west of England and South Wales. The arches of the nave are remarkably beautiful, springing from piers formed of clustered columns, and displaying in their capitals foliage of exquisite and graceful design. An ancient inscription, recently interpreted ‘John, Master Builder of the fraternity of Parma,’ seems to preserve the name of the reputed architect of the Anglo-Norman building. The ancient wrought stone of the two Cathedrals is a very durable Somersetshire oolite, but its particular source is not known. Christchurch, like St. Patrick’s, has been thoroughly restored by private munificence,​—​at the hands of the late Henry Roe, and at an expense of over £160,000.

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Newtowntrim Abbey.​—​The Abbey of Newtowntrim, founded by Simon Rochfort, or de Rupeforti, for Augustine Canons, about A.D. 1206, and dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, though now in a hopeless state of dilapidation, was originally one of the finest of the many establishments in this part of Leinster. This can be judged from the beauty of some of the details, such as the capitals, vaulting, and shafts, which have not been disturbed, and from the numerous fragments of its once noble windows and arches with which the surrounding cemetery is strewn. Broad strips of masonry, placed at a considerable distance apart, project from the walls of the church upon the exterior​—​a feature never found except in early work, and which is generally characteristic of the Norman period. But it is within the walls that we must seek for evidence of the former beauty of the building. Several chastely decorated corbel shafts remain, and support portions of the ribs by which the vaulted roof was sustained. The windows are of the lancet form, with piers between, and the mouldings which run round them are ornamented with beautifully designed bands. Sedilia, in the Norman style of architecture, may be seen in the wall to the right of the space once occupied by the altar. The ruins on the opposite side of the river and the ancient bridge at this place are worthy of notice, although they do not possess any striking peculiarity.

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Bective Abbey, near Trim, Co. Meath.

Bective Abbey.​—​The Abbey of Bective, in the immediate neighbourhood of Trim, was a Cistercian house, founded by Murchard O’Melaghlin, Prince of Meath, in A.D. 1146. The ruins exhibit, in a remarkable degree, a union of ecclesiastical with military and domestic architecture. Their chief feature is a strong battlemented tower, the lower apartment of which is vaulted, placed at the south corner of the quadrangular space occupied by the various buildings, and in the centre of which the cloisters remain in good preservation. The cloister arches are late in the First Pointed style, and are cinque-foiled. The featherings are mostly plain; but several are ornamented with flowers, or leaves, and upon one a hawk-like bird is sculptured. A fillet is worked upon each of the clustered shafts by which the openings are divided, and also upon their capitals. The bases, which are circular, rest upon square plinths, the angles of which are ornamented with a leaf, growing, as it were, out of the base moulding. Of the church there are scarcely any remains. As the northern wall of the cloister is pierced with several windows which now have the appearance of splaying externally, it is extremely probable that it also served as the south wall of the church, no other portion of which can at present be identified. Those buildings which were devoted to domestic purposes are, for the most part, situated upon the east side of the quadrangle. Their architectural details are of a character later than those of the tower and of the other portions; but additions and alterations have evidently been made. Several of the apartments have large fireplaces covered with flat arches, the stones of which are dove-tailed into one another. The flues are carried up through the thickness of the wall, and are continued through square tapering chimney-shafts, headed with a plain cornice. In its general arrangements Bective Abbey differs from every other monastic structure in Ireland. It is, in fact, a monastic castle, and, previous to the use of artillery, must have been regarded as a place of great strength.