RAHAN MONASTIC SITE - Offaly County Council

2.0 UNDERSTANDING THE PLACEBuilding News of 3 November 1911The final brief article is also illustrated and concentrates solely on the Romanesque entrance door to the secondsmaller ruined church. Delightful measured drawings, (worthy of Harold Leask), show the doorway viewed fromboth the exterior and interior. A plan of the jamb detail is superimposed on the inner elevation and there are alsoseveral details of the carved enrichments including the wonderful serpents on thebases of the collonettes. The rubble work surrounding the doorway, including therough stone relieving arch above the head, are also drawn accurately which indicatesthat this door was moved from another location, probably the Church of St Carthage.During this period, the circular east window may also have been taken from the westgable and inserted into the east gable of the Church of St Carthage.It is regrettable that despite all the known surviving records of William EdwardMartin’s work at Rahan, there is no detailed description of the condition of thechurch as he found it or a full account of the work that he implemented. Some ofthis we can decipher from the published accounts, some from the fabric that wefind; other possible work by his hand must remain conjectural until further archivematerial comes to light. His work is, however, of great significance as the lastextensive programme of works carried out at Rahan that survived relatively intactfor almost 100 years. It seems fairly clear that Martin inserted the new external eastwindow, in a Hiberno-Romanesque Revival style, together with the salvaged fifteenthcentury window in the north wall, with its stained glass depicting St Carthage. Theremainder of his work appears to have been more concerned with the interior ofthe church, aimed at making it more comfortable. New timber windows glazed withleaded lights of coloured and textured glass were inserted. This glass is known ascathedral glass and was very popular as a cheap alternative to stained glass, whichcould simulate the diffused effect of coloured light entering the church without theFigure 26. Line drawing by William Martin of expense of highly skilled artist/craftsmen to design, paint and fire the glass. Fromwest doorway small church (1911).the descriptions, it appears that Martin also designed the timber furnishings of thepulpit, lectern, communion rails and reader, together with the panelled wainscotsand partitioned vestry in the northwest corner. The parquet floor, with its recessed heating duct and cast irongrills were also probably his work along with the present solid fuel stove used to provide the heat source. Thefact that the internal walls and ceilings are noted as being plain plaster suggests that the surviving lime plastercoatings to the nave were in place prior to Martin’s interventions.Figure 27. Decorative detail from the baseof the west doorway of the small church.Figure 28. Decorative detail from the baseof the west doorway of the small church.Figure 29. Decorative detail from the baseof the west doorway of the small church.Figure 30. Decorative detail from the baseof the west doorway of the small church.36