Wakeman's handbook of Irish antiquities

by W. F. Wakeman

There is a very ancient church remaining on Ireland’s Eye, a romantic islet, or rock, lying off the North side of Howth. The place was formerly known as Inis-mac-Nessan, from the three sons of Nessan, viz. Dicholla, Munissa, and Nadsluagh, who some time in the seventh century erected a little Teampull or Cill; the remains of Kilmacnessan still exist. It consists of a nave and chancel, and the nave is 1 foot narrower at the west end than at the east. The doorway has sloping jambs and a rounded head. An arch spanning the east end formerly sustained a round tower belfry​—​a later addition, and a curious feature, as the usual position is at the west end. The whole building was so restored in the last century that it is impossible to identify satisfactorily anything of the original structure.

FONTS.

A very considerable number of ancient baptismal fonts still remain within the walls of the ruined churches of Ireland, and others are found in graveyards where churches, of which no vestige remains, formerly stood. The fonts usually found in connection with the more ancient churches are extremely rude, and of small dimensions, being rarely large enough to allow of the immersion of infants. They are almost in every instance formed of a single stone, clumsily hollowed, and having a hole at the bottom of the basin; but in some instances no mode of escape for the water appears.

A very early font occurs in the ancient church of Killiney, Co. Dublin; and there is another in the equally ancient church of Kilternan, about six miles south of the city. An example, in which there is no passage by which the water can escape, may be seen in the church of St. John’s Point, Co. Down. There is a fine twelfth-century font of black marble in Kilkenny Cathedral; it rests on four columns and a central drum, and has fluted faces and incised spandrils round the bowl. The earliest fonts are generally somewhat circular in form; but the stone appears only to have been roughly hammered, and in no instance can be perceived any attempt at decoration.

* * * * *

Killeshin Font.​—​One of the oldest ornamented fonts remaining in Ireland is that which stands in the graveyard of Killeshin. It is of a bulbous form, and the base is cut into the figure of an octagon. After the twelfth century, fonts of greater size, and supported by a short column, appear to have become common. Their form is generally octagonal; but they are seldom enriched in any way, and when ornaments occur, they consist only of a few mouldings upon the shafts or upon the upper edge of the basin. From the absence of mouldings in the majority of instances, it is extremely difficult to assign a date to the numerous fonts of an octagonal form which remain in many parts of the country. During the period of debased Gothic architecture, a great many appear to have been erected in Ireland, particularly in the district comprising the old English Pale.

* * * * *

Kilcarn Font, Co. Meath.

Kilcarn Font.​—​We have engraved an unusually fine example from the mediæval church of Kilcarn, near Navan, in the County of Meath, and now in the Roman Catholic Church at Johnstown close by. Placed upon its shaft, as represented in the cut, it measures in height about 3 feet 6 inches; the basin is 2 feet 10 inches in diameter, and 13 inches deep. The heads of the niches, twelve in number, with which its sides are carved, are enriched with foliage of a graceful but uniform character; and the miniature buttresses which separate the niches are decorated with crockets, the bases resting upon heads, grotesque animals, or human figures carved as brackets. The figures within the niches are executed with a wonderful degree of care, the drapery being represented with each minute crease or fold well expressed. They were evidently intended to represent Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the twelve Apostles. All the figures are seated. Our Saviour, crowned as a King, holding in His hand the globe and cross, is in the act of blessing the Virgin, who is also crowned the ‘Queen of Heaven.’ The figures of most of the Apostles can be easily identified: St. Peter, by his key; St. Andrew, by his cross of peculiar shape; and so on. They are represented barefooted, and each holds a book in one hand. In the Church of Clonard is another interesting font. The basin is octagonal, and the external panels are divided into two compartments filled with Scriptural subjects, such as the Flight into Egypt, the Baptism in the Jordan, etc.