Church Island (Lough Currane)

Church Island
Oileán an Teampaill[1]
Church Island (Lough Currane) is located in Ireland
Church Island (Lough Currane)
Location within Ireland
Monastery information
Established6th century AD
DioceseKerry
People
Founder(s)Fionán Cam
Architecture
Statusruined
StyleRomanesque
Site
LocationLough Currane, County Kerry
Coordinates51°50′06″N 10°07′45″W / 51.834893°N 10.129270°W / 51.834893; -10.129270
Public accessyes
Official nameChurch Island (Lough Currane) Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Site[2]
Reference no.60

Church Island is a medieval Christian monastery and National Monument located in Lough Currane, Ireland.[3][4][5]

Location

Church Island is located on a 1.8 ha (4.4 acres) island in Lough Currane, 2.8 km (1.7 mi) east of Waterville.[6] It is also known as Inis Uasail ("Upper Island").[7]

History

Watercolour, 1858
Carving of a musical instrument (cruit or fiddle, 11th century)
Finan of Lindisfarne's cell on Church Island, photographed in 1865.

The monastery on Lough Currane claims its foundation from Saint Fionán Cam (6th century AD).[8][9]

The oak church (dairthech) was replaced in the 12th century by a Romanesque stone building, some of which survives.[10]

Description

There is a stone church, a clochán (perhaps a hospitium) and two further cells for other monks. There are three altars, 11 cross slabs and pillar stones.[11][12]

A carved cross on Church Island

The church contains a relief carving of a musician playing a lyre.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Oileán an Teampaill/Church Island". Logainm.ie.
  2. ^ "National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship" (PDF). Ireland: National Monuments Service. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. ^ Dublin.), James Fraser (of (9 March 2018). "Guide through Ireland" – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Ireland, Royal Society of Antiquaries of (9 March 2018). "The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". The Society – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "The Irish Digest". Irish Digest. 9 March 1963 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Church Island, Lough Currane, Waterville, Kerry, Ireland - Things to See and do | Location | Activeme.ie". 5 November 2013.
  7. ^ Ltd., eDynamics. "Church Island in Lough Currane, Co. Kerry - Map, Locate, Directions, Contact". mypois.ie.
  8. ^ Daly, Mike. "Church Island".
  9. ^ Crowley, John; Sheehan, John (9 March 2018). The Iveragh Peninsula: a cultural atlas of the Ring of Kerry. Cork University Press. ISBN 9781859184301 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Murphy, J. A. (29 January 2012). The Church of Ireland in Co Kerry. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781471080258 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "Church island lough currane (also called termons), County Kerry". www.earlychristianireland.net.
  12. ^ Ireland, Royal Society of Antiquaries of (1855). Journal. p. 253 – via Internet Archive. Church Island Lough Currane.
  13. ^ Monk, Michael A.; Sheehan, John (9 March 1998). Early Medieval Munster: Archaeology, History and Society. Cork University Press. ISBN 9781859181072 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ "The Islands of Ireland: Monastic, musical and magical Church Island". 18 September 2017.