Ecclesiastical enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

A monastery at Lemanaghan (Liath Manchán) was founded in the 7th century by Manchán whose feastday is celebrated on the 24th of January (Ó Riain 2011, 429). A 10th / 11th century oratory named after St. Manchan’s mother stands inside a rectangular shaped cashel (dims. 41.7m by 30.7m ) with walls measuring 1.6m thick. Described in 1838 as ‘an old cyclopean building, surrounded by an ancient Mur or wall of earth faced with stonework’ (Monahan 1886, 24).
Remains consists of a square-shaped area (approx. dims. 30m N-S; 40m E-W) defined by a cashel which encloses a small oratory or hermitage known as St. Mella's Cell (OF015-004006-).
The cashel around the hermitage is part of an archaeological complex consisting of an ecclesiastical enclosure (OF015-004008-), a tower house (OF015-004001-), church (OF015-004003-), several early Christian cross-slabs (OF015-004005-/032-), a rectangular building (OF015-004009-) possibly of late medieval date and a togher (OF015-004011).

See attached drawings of monastic cashel drawn by Graves in 1874.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien.

Date of upload: 23 May 2011

References

Ó Riain, P. 2011 A dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin. Four Courts Press.

Monahan, Rev. J. 1886 Records relating to the dioceses of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. Dublin. M.H. Gill and Son.

Graves, Rev. J. 1874 The church and shrine of St. Manchan. The Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland 3, 134-50.