Church

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument in state ownership No. 134. Situated within the main graveyard to the SW of the cathedral. A small rectangular building (dims. c. 4.5m x 2.4m) probably of twelfth-century date. Apart from the lower parts of the walls the remainder is a reconstruction. There is a Romanesque arched recess in the exterior of the E wall now closed by a thin wall with a small window opening. A shelf or seat forms the bottom of the recess. A door in the S wall features a fragmentary tympanum with three figures. The function of this building is uncertain; it became known as the 'Priest's House' as priests of the parish were buried there in the 18th century. A roughly quadrangular enclosure (dims. 30.5m x 22.9m) surrounded this structure and its north-east angle touched the south-west quoin of the cathedral. At about the centre of its E wall stands St Kevin's Cross (WI023-008013-). Healy describes five cross-slabs, thirty undecorated slabs, a cross-base and portion of a millstone within the enclosure. (Leask 1950, 18-20; Healy 1972, 6, 9, 16; Barrow 1992, 33-7)

See attached screenshots of 3D model of Priests House created by The Discovery Programme. 3D model can be accessed at the following website: https://skfb.ly/AKtV

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 19 December 2012

See linked document with plan taken from Robert Cochrane Historical and Descriptive Notes with Ground Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Ecclesiastical Remains at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Extract from the Eightieth Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland 1911-12. Dublin, 1925.

References

Leask, H.G. 1950 Glendalough, Co. Wicklow: national monuments vested in the Commissioners of Public Works. Dublin. Stationery Office.

Healy, P. 1972 Supplementary survey of ancient monuments at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Unpublished OPW report.

Barrow, G.L. 1979 The round towers of Ireland: a study and gazetteer. Dublin. The Academy Press.