RAHAN MONASTIC SITE - Offaly County Council

2.0 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACETwentieth Century RestorationWilliam Edward Martin — 1912 RepairsA memorial plaque on the south wall of the nave, in opus sectile, commemorates the work of the architect WilliamEdward Martin who was responsible for a major programme of repair and alteration works completed in 1912.Martin was born in Cork in 1843 and after working for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the west of Ireland,he moved to England during the 1860s, where he is recorded in variouscensuses as both an architect and a civil engineer living in Middlesex,Herefordshire and London. 24 His work appears to have concentrated onthe conservation of churches, and his obituary in the Irish Builder claimsthat he was — employed at various times in many continental cities includingParis, Rheims and Vienna, in the work of restoration and preservation ofcontinental ecclesiastical edifices. 25 Having retired to Tullamore duringthe first decade of the twentieth century to live with one of his daughters,he became sufficiently interested in Rahan to take on another projectduring his retirement. This would appear to have been a labour of love forwhich he produced delightful measured drawings of twelfth and fifteenthcentury decorative stonework and wrote articles to help promote thechurch and raise funds for its repair. The work attracted the interestof The Building News, and four separate articles appeared between Julyand November 1911. These articles were written with reference to thepublications of Petrie and Stokes, but appeared before the more analyticaland architectural appraisals of Harold Leask.Perhaps the greatest legacy of Leask to the study of Irish antiquitieswas his beautiful hand-drawn illustrations. These included measuredsurveys (plans, sections and elevations) of buildings, together with theirarchitectural detail — all produced with the greatest accuracy. Like Martin,Leask was also an architect, and he was later to praise the work of theolder man at Rahan. His only reservation was the sill level of the new eastFigure 22. Drawing of external face of east gable by window inserted by Martin. 26 This drops down behind the altar, effectivelyWilliam Edward Martin (1912).creating the impression of a doorway rather than a window, although fromthe surviving drawing of the proposal by Martin, the external ground levelis shown a much lower level than occurs today as the adjoining ground has risen significantly. It would appearfrom the wording on his memorial that like Leask, the congregation also appreciated Martin’s work at Rahan:To the Glory of God and in memory of William Edward Martin Architect in charge of the restorationof this Church AD 1912 he entered into rest April 15 th 1915. This tablet is placed here as a Mark ofGratitude for his skilful and unselfish work.Plate 11. Memorialplaque to WilliamEdward Martin insouth wall of nave.32