Church

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument in state ownership No. 134. Situated at the S end of the quadrangular extension attached to the S of the main graveyard. The only roofed building to survive at Glendalough, this was originally a small rectangular single-celled church (dims. c. 7m x 4.5m) with a belfry (round tower) at the W end. A later chancel and sacristy were added at the E. The roof of the oratory is steeply pitched and corbelled while the outside of the roofstones are roughly dressed to the slope. Internally there is a rounded arch of rough masonry with a small croft above, lit by a small E window. The only access to the tower/belfry was through the croft which in turn was accessed through a small square hole in the vault. A former wooden floor is indicated by beam-holes on all the walls at the springing of the arch, this room was lit by a small square-headed E window. The doorway at W is lintelled and has inclined jambs. A window in the S wall was removed in 1843. When the chancel was added a chancel arch was constructed in the E wall where there had previously been a window. The round head of this window is still visible. Only the foundations of the chancel are now visible but the stone-roofed sacristy at the NE angle of the church still stands with a simple lintelled opening in the S wall and a small round-headed window at E. The belfry or round tower has one window at each of the two lower floors and rectangular openings on the top floor at the four cardinal points. It was at one stage likened to a chimney and so the church became known as St Kevin's Kitchen. There is an external string course all around the building at the top of the walls. Because this building was roofed a large number of crosses, cross-slabs and architectural fragments came to be housed in it; all but a handful of these have now been transferred to the Visitor Centre. Leask (1950) describes ninety-two fragments and illustrates a number of them. One rectangular slab carved with a framed cross bears the inscription 'OR DO BRESAL' and was originally found at Reefert Church. Healy cites a further eighty-nine fragments, some of which were decorated as well as seven bullaun stones in the vicinity. (O'Flanagan 1928, 156-8; Leask 1950, 21-25, 43-52; Healy 1972, 98-101; Barrow 1992, 37-9)

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

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

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

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

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1928 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Wicklow collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838. Bray.

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