RAHAN MONASTIC SITE - Offaly County Council

2.0 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACEBuilding News of 21 July 1911In the first article to appear in the Building News of 21 July 1911, there is a general description of the churchand the site where it claims — worship has been offered continuously for more than 1300 years. 27 It goes on tonote that the parishioners are few in number and unlikely to be able to raise the £180 necessary to match thesum of £180 already raised through grants from the Beresford and Fredericton Funds. This article is very muchan introductory fund-raising piece with several addresses listed for readers wishing to make subscriptions tothe Rahan Church Improvement Fund. 28 It uses the exact wording of the appeal document and includes a longquotation from Martin that takes up almost half of the article. In this we learn some valuable information aboutthe state of the church at that time:The church consists of a nave about 43 feet by 20 feet and a chancel 15 feet by 11 feet; the formeris wholly modern, and the latter experts say dates from the eighth century. The nave erected bythe Ecclesiastical Commissioners 1737, is practically a barn; the walls and ceilings are covered withordinary smooth plaster and the floor paved with stone slabs, evidently laid on soil for they are alwaysdamp. This part of the building has no interest, but the following peculiarities are noticeable. Onediagonal on plan is 4ft longer than the other, so that the walls are much out of square, and theaxis of this part of the building does not line with that of the chancel, the former being 36°48”and the latter 42°48” south of east, true bearing. In England tradition records that the axis of achurch was directed to that part of the sky in which the sun arose on the Feast of the Patron Saint,but Durandus, Bishop of Mende, writing in the thirteenth century says ‘The foundation must be socontrived as that the head of the church may point due east — that is, to that part of the heavenswhere the sun ariseth at the solstices, which is the practice of some’ (Tractatus Gulielmi Durandide Ecclesia et Ecclesiastical Locis; cap. i. sec 8). The bishop was an authority on symbolism, andfrom this quotation it is evident that he knew nothing of the English custom. The EcclesiasticalCommissioners are not likely to have troubled about the Feast of St Carthach, or the position of thesun in the horizon on that day, so it may be assumed that they had the new nave built on the oldfoundations; hence its want of symmetry. There is no trace of old work in the nave except perhapson some dressed stones which may be seen in the rubble walls, and they show chiselled markingssimilar to the old surface finishings. The walls of the chancel may be eighth century or older, butthe only architectural feature in it and which affords any clue as to date of the building, are clearlyinteresting examples of Norman work dating from the twelfth century (probably 1150-1160). Theyconsist of a triple recessed chancel arch and piers, with curious carved caps and bases; a large roundwindow and chevron ornament in low relief, high up the chancel east wall; and the inner angle ofthe old east window jambs and head, the outer jambs and head having been cut away to widenthe opening. No trace of the outer dressed stonework of this window can now be found, so that itsdesign is lost, but the profile for the remaining moulding is more like a thirteenth century detailthan one of the Norman period. The other features in the chancel are two small priests doors and asmall window; these have circular heads and the jambs batter, as in old celtic buildings. The workin these doors, and the windows is quite plain and it affords no clue as to their age, but they areprobably very old as they are not insertions after the walls were built, as the other cut stoneworkmay be, including the chancel arch. Like all old Celtic chancels this is of small dimensions and itis square ended, if Norman influence had been paramount here the end would have been circularor polygonal. The roof was of stone in weathered courses about 12 inches deep; these rested on astone vault; the latter remains perfect, but the former was removed probably when the nave wasbuilt. The outer covering is now slate bedded on mortar and without battens or rafters. There areseveral large wrought squared stones built into the rubble walling of the detached ruined buildingto the east of this church, and they may be part of the old slate roof, in any case the large stonesreferred to were never originally in the places where they are now found. 29The quotation contains several inaccuracies such as the eighth century dating of the chancel and the assumptionthat the nave was built in the eighteenth century. Martin does, however, note that the nave is significantlyoff square, with one diagonal being a full four feet longer than the other resulting in the irregular plan that ismisaligned with the chancel. He speculates that the entrance doors to the wings off the chancel have battered33