Built Heritage

There are roughly 400 surviving Ogham inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of them are in the south of Ireland, in Counties Kerry, Cork and Waterford. The vast majority of the inscriptions consist of personal names and were used as either grave markers or territorial markers.  Ogham takes the form of lines and notches at the angle of a stone to denote letters. It is based on the Latin alphabet and is read from the base of the stone upwards to the top. The date of the inscriptions spans from the 4^th century to the late 7^th century.

Two of the 3 Ogham stones found in Ardmore   have been relocated  within  the Cathedral

The first Ogham stone is 1.27m high and has the following inscription

LUGUDECCAS MAQI[  ̣  ̣ ?   ̣  ̣MU]/COI NETA SEGAMONAS/ DOLATI BIGAISGOB… which translates as ‘of Luguid son of …? descendant of Nad-Segamon’. McManus (1991, 65)

The second Ogham stone is 1.3m high and has a small incised cross upon the sloping top of the stone, on the side opposite to the inscription which reads AMADU  which can be translated  as  “beloved”. McManus (1991, 117).The third stone, which is kept in the National Museum of Ireland has the inscription …]NACI MAQI [… “of Anac, son of “

If you like to know more about Ogham stones an interesting link is https://ogham.celt.dias.ie ogham in 3D project

On the exterior of the west gable of Ardmore Cathedral, there are a number of carved tone panels, which according to  historians, depict events from the psalms. In the past one of functions of these carvings was  to illustrate stories from the Bible for the faithful. The panels comprise of two large semicircular lunettes and above them a range of thirteen round headed  panels. The iconography of some of these panels has been interpreted, where it is possible as the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, The Last Judgment or Archangel Michael weighing the souls , whilst there is  uncertainty about some of the other figures depicted. Underneath these panels are  the two (possibly originally three) larger lunettes which  depict Adam and Eve and  the Judgment of Solomon over the Adoration of Magi.

The right-hand lunette combines both the scene of David playing his harp and the Judgment of Solomon. David’s battle with Goliath is the scene on the extreme right of the left-hand lunette, where a figure kneeling with bowed head is shown with a spear, which  was one of the weapons borne by Goliath into battle. Respectively, the fourth arch from the left of the upper arcade is identified as David’s charge to Solomon and  panels such as the third arch from the left of the upper arcade are  identified as The building of Solomon’s Temple (Harbison, 1995).

It is probable that a number of smaller panels may have been eroded by time and weather, as a few are now blank. The off centre placement of the lunettes may indicate that further panels were intended or that the panels were reset with later modifications to the building. It might also be possible that these panels were  relocated from another church. Usually twelfth century Irish churches were decorated with non figurative ornament based on geometric and foliage patterns. Figurative works such as these, which consist of many panels, are extremely rare in Ireland.

The most probable sources of inspiration for this type of decoration are found in the Poitous-Angoumois region in France, where there is similar arcading with figures on the exterior of the western elevations of the Cathedrals of Angouleme, Civay and Poitiers. Those also date from 12th century, while elements of the iconography are also similar to depictions on Norman manuscripts.

Continuing with how we can view our archaeology and built heritage through the maps using the  Historic Environment Viewer link on The National Monuments website, it is possible to find archaeological features via town-land or by feature.

For instance, a search for ecclesiastical enclosures in County Waterford returns 27 results.  Ecclesiastical enclosures are oval / roughly circular or “D” shaped areas, defined by banks and external  ditches or dry stone walls. These sites are quite large, usually over 50m in diameter and enclose early medieval churches or  monasteries . The enclosures  date from  the 5th-to the 12th centuries AD.

Ardmore Cathedral is considered one of the oldest Christian settlements in Ireland, having been founded by St. Declan in 416 AD, prior to St. Patrick’s arrival in 432 AD . The archaeological remains at the site range in date from the Early Medieval period. The large monastic enclosure encompasses St. Declan’s oratory, the graveyard, the Cathedral and iconic round tower.

Very little is known of the later history of the ecclesiastical centre. The only date recorded in connection with the cathedral is 1203 AD, when historic texts note that the building of the church in Ardmore was finished. Ardmore was recognised as a diocesan centre between 1170 and 1210, after which time the diocese was united with Lismore and the church became parochial.

In 1642, the Cathedral and round tower were besieged but the chancel of the cathedral continued in use as a  church until 1838, when the present Church of Ireland church was built and the font from the Cathedral was transferred to its present location.

Remember to tag your Waterford photos with #MyWaterford2km to feature in our new photo site or in upcoming issues of Waterford News & Star.

The history of fanlights available on the Buildings of Ireland Facebook page posted a photograph of the lovely double fanlight at 31 The Mall Waterford city recently.

Here are a few more examples from around the City and County.

During the Covid crisis, The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) Facebook site is highlighting some of our wonderful historic buildings and features with Built Heritage puzzles. 

This week they are starting a “Fantastic Irish Fanlights: An Armchair Tour of Ireland” by Nessa Roche, Senior Architectural Advisor, which is perfect for a little lunchtime learning or a teatime tutorial.

“Fantastic Irish Fanlights” will explain why fanlights became so popular in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century buildings. It will also explore the wide range of buildings fanlights are found, who designed the fanlights, who made them and how they were made, the main design families – circle; cobweb; floral; Gothic; peacock; petal; spoke and hub; teardrop – and will showcase examples of the bizarre and spectacular. There will also be practical tips if you know of a fanlight in need of repair.

Go on the armchair tour of “Fantastic Irish Fanlights” – First stop will be “An Introduction to Irish Fanlights”.

The link is https://www.facebook.com/www.buildingsofireland.ie/

As the schools are closed and most of us are trying to stay safe at home, Abarta Heritage / Irish Walled Towns Network have created a workbook aimed at primary school children (9 – 13 yr olds) to keep them entertained and as a way to help to promote the fantastic heritage of our walled towns.

The workbook features colouring pages, a building challenge, quizzes and information about some of the features that can be found in our historic towns and  Waterford City.

One of the best places to see our city walls is at the junction on Castle Street/Manor Street, where you can see 3 of the towers as well.

• Download the workbook here

Please do share this widely and we’d love it if you could send back drawings and pictures of the ‘build your own walled town’ construction projects to rryall@waterfordcouncil.ie so we can post them on the Waterford Council website and also on the IWTN social media channels.

• www.facebook.com/irishwalledtown
• twitter.com/irishwalledtown

Happy drawing ….. and  Mum and Dads  can send in their paintings  too !

County Waterford has 3 lighthouses. Dunmore East lighthouse was built to designs prepared by Alexander Nimmo. The  elegant granite ashlar lighthouse was constructed in 1824, on a polygonal plan, and takes the distinctive form of a fluted Doric column.  The lighthouses at Mine Head (1851) designed by George Halpin Snr and at Ballynacourty (1858) designed by George Halpin Junior, have a more traditional circular design.

The  lighthouses were painted in different colours such as red, white or black, some with contrasting bands, so that sailors could identify them during daylight hours. By night each lighthouse would have a different flash pattern.

Of the 70 lighthouses around Ireland, Mine Head light house has the second highest focal height of 87m. Both Ballinacourty and Mine Head had well constructed keepers’ houses, where the light-keepers and maintenance men would live.

In 1997, the Baily Lighthouse in Dublin became the last manned lighthouse in the country  to become automated.