Archaeologist and art historian Peter Harbison has compiled a fine record of church sites in Galway, writes Eileen Battersby
Tall it stands against the sky, tall it is - standing about 112 feet - but not quite straight. The Round Tower at the ancient early Christian cathedral site of Kilmacduagh, which was founded by St Colman in the seventh century, is the tallest surviving Irish round tower and among the oldest such monuments. It is also the most distinctive and appears to move in and out of sight when approaching it on the road from Gort. In addition to its fine state of preservation is this tower's particular characteristic, that of its swaying lean - indicative more of insecure foundations than an overly relaxed attitude.
Framed by long views of the Burren hills, the Kilmacduagh monastic complex, often described as the "Glendalough of the West", has a range of stone buildings and impressive later additions dating from the medieval period such as a 15th-century doorway and a beautiful traceried east window from the same period. According to folklore, the saint had been offered, by a generous kinsman, any site of his choosing for the establishment of a monastery. St Colman left the selection to divine intervention. He happened to drop his belt and saw this chance act as a sign from heaven.
Kilmacduagh is the most southerly point of the remarkable legacy of church building that extends across the east Galway region. Spanning monastic sites from the early Christian and medieval periods and on to churches decorated in the Celtic Revival style, the range not only expresses the continuity of a thousand years of active worship, it plots the evolution of church architecture and design from the earliest times to an era in which Ireland's finest stained glass artists were commissioned to create memorial windows.
Archaeologist and art historian Peter Harbison, an international authority on the Irish High Cross and a one-man custodian of Irish heritage through his scholarly but accessible approach, has compiled a lively and persuasively illustrated gazetteer, A Thousand Years of Church Heritage in East Galway, which looks at 49 sites throughout this rewarding region.
Such is the array of stained-glass art by artists such as Evie Hone, Sarah Purser, AE Child, Michael Healy and Patrick Pye in St Brendan's Cathedral at Loughrea that visiting the church is akin to exploring an art gallery.
Other more modest churches such as that of Killure, heading west from Ballinasloe, near Ahascragh, will take the visitor by surprise with the splendour of two fine windows, one depicting the Holy Family, the other the Crucifixion - both dating from the 1930s, but both unsigned. Centuries before the stained-glass window became a narrative expression of memory and faith, came the wonder of the majestic carved c.12th-century west doorway at St Brendan's Clonfert cathedral. Decorated in the Romanesque style, the arched doorway is arranged in six orders and has a variety of motifs including human and animal heads and foliage. Above the doorway itself is a dramatic pointed hood of human heads alternating with triangles below which is a further line of less surreal heads.
THERE ARE MANY magnificent church sites in Ireland, and several occupy more physically beautiful settings than Clonfert, but it is a special place.
Believed to hold the grave of St Brendan, who is the most dominant presence throughout this region, it was twice attacked by the Vikings, survived at least three serious fires and is home to an important bat colony. Above all, there is a wonderful atmosphere. Birds favour it and it is a living place which engages and inspires at any time, not least Easter. Also among the early Christian sites explored by Harbison in this present survey is Drumacoo, with its decorated stone work and Kilbennon, believed to have been important from pagan times for its association with Lughnasa celebrations.
Kiltartan, more widely known through Lady Gregory, is also home to a small stone church.
In the entry for St Mary's Church of Ireland in Tuam which occupies the site of a sixth-century monastery founded by St Jarlath, there is an evocative photograph showing the 12th-century, decorated sandstone chancel arch. Harbison also provides a good history of the church, including the contribution made by the 19th-century architect Thomas Deane in the preservation of the arch, and notes the fact that playwright JM Synge's grandfather is buried in the churchyard.
Several wonders feature in the Medieval section of the book which includes Annaghdown, Abbeyknockmoy and Ross Errilly. Annaghdown beautifully situated on Lough Corrib, is where St Brendan founded a convent headed by his sister Briga.
It was also a cathedral from the 12th until the 14th centuries when it became joined with Tuam. The cathedral here boasts a splendid Romanesque carved window in its east wall and Harbison acknowledges it as "the finest late Romanesque-style window to survive in Ireland from the period around 1200", and adds that it is "one of the greatest masterpieces of sculpture in Connacht before it was overcome by the Normans in 1235".
Abbeyknockmoy is the only Cistercian house in the area and is a typical example of Cistercian ground layout. The church is to one side - the domestic buildings, including chapter-house, refectory, kitchen, stores and sleeping accommodation on the other. It is known to have been home to a professional scribe, although none of his work endures. What does survive though is a wall painting dating from circa 1500 on the north wall of the chancel at Knockmoy Abbey which is interesting to compare with those found in the church on Clare Island.
Clontuskert, one of the most decorative late-medieval priories in Ireland, possesses a fine west doorway with a frieze consisting of four figures. There is detailed entry in the book on the site.
But as always the imagination returns to Ross Errilly, off the Headford Road and located on the Galway/Mayo border. It is one of the largest, best-preserved and most beautiful of Ireland's medieval Franciscan friaries. From a distance it looks to be still active and alive with busy monks. There is a tall, battlemented tower and it was obviously home to a large community, judging by the extensive range of domestic buildings. Life was peaceful here, and even after the Suppression of the Monasteries, the friars enjoyed the protection of the Earl of Clanrickarde. For almost 200 years the community battled to stay, returning after each upheaval only to finally leave in 1753. It is, quite simply, one of the most atmospheric places in Ireland.
ANOTHER ELOQUENT SITE is that of the Dominican Friary in Athenry. This is a place with a complex and detailed story to tell, well illustrated by the number of medieval tombs. Unfortunately many of these lie neglected and damaged beyond legibility of the ground. There are some good examples in the walls. In addition to the grand and somewhat showy limestone vault honouring the de Burgh clan, is the gracious monument to the memory of the Rt Hon Matilda Bermingham, who died in 1788.
Unfortunately, recent history has left an ugly postscript in the form of vicious vandalism perpetrated on it in 2002. Harbison reports that Mass was celebrated here in 1991 "750 years after its foundation" and some 450 years after the friary was closed because of the Reformation.
Ballynakill Abbey is host to one of only two medieval knight effigies found west of the Shannon and this one is believed to be a 16th-century knight, possibly a Burke. A comment made more than a century ago by Francis Joseph Biggar who decided the 15th-century Franciscan Friary church at Kilconnell "is perhaps the most perfect of the Franciscan houses at present remaining to us in Ireland", and is quoted by Harbison, is well supported by the accompanying photograph. Kilconnell has the finest collection of western Irish tombs and Harbison's text gives a detailed reading of them.
The concluding section surveying 24 Celtic Revival sites is the largest. As expected, it is dominated by the achievement of mainly native stained-glass artists. Many of the designs are immensely sophisticated and all of them are vivid and expressive.
While the area under scrutiny is local and specific, this is a book of national importance. It is a celebration of church sites and their evolution, it is also a record of the pioneering artistic achievement of the mason and in the modern era, the stained-glass artist.
A Thousand Years of Church Heritage in East Galway by Peter Harbison is published by Ashfield Press (hardback: 25; softback: 20)