Ardclinis Church

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The Ardclinis Church is a former church in the district of Causeway Coast and Glens in Northern Ireland . It stands in the townland of Ardclinis ( Irish Ard Claoininse ), roughly in the middle of a three hundred meter wide flat slope between the edge of the Garron Plateau and the coast of the North Channel , and slightly above the Antrim Coast Road in the section between Carnlough and Waterfoot .

history

Little is known about the history of the Church. The patron saint is Saint Macnissi, who founded the Diocese of Down in 480 and is said to have been buried here. The first documentary mention comes from the years 1306/07 as Ecclesia de Ardglanys . In 1622 it was described as in a dilapidated state, in 1657 as a ruin. Despite being a parish church was, and the associated parish (parish) of Carnlough in the south to the northern edge of Glenariff extended, it did not come to a replacement building. In 1819 it was reported that the pastor in charge held his events in the open air. It was not until the beginning of the 1830s that a new church for 300 people was built in the townland of Gallanagh, at the lower eastern end of Glenariff.

Current condition

Of the church, which had a floor area of ​​18.10 by 7.80 meters, only remains of walls up to a maximum height of three meters are left today. Large parts of the eastern half are completely missing, as is the roof. It is surrounded by a small cemetery with a total of 14 gravestones from the years 1754 to 1910, the entire complex is enclosed by a wall. The church and cemetery are designated as scheduled monuments , as are parts of an adjacent meadow area: here traces of a possibly early Christian enclosure.

On the premises there is a rag tree , a tree from which scraps of cloth are hung in the hope that a saint, a deity or a resident nature spirit will grant a wish to cure an illness. In Ardclinis the tradition is more recent, dating from the end of the twentieth century.

Ardclinis Crozier

Traditionally associated with the church is the Ardclinis Crozier , a crozier from the twelfth century. It is said to have been in the window area in 1760, later it came into private hands. Since 1961 it has been kept in the Irish National Museum in Dublin . There is no evidence that it actually comes from Ardclinis, but recent research has shown it to be unlikely.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stewart Dobbs: Ardclinis and Laid. In: William Shaw Mason (ed.): A Statistical Account, or Parochial Survey of Ireland. Vol. III, Dublin 1819, p. 29. Available online at Archive.org , directly to the page (English)
  2. ^ The Ordnance Survey Memoir for the Parish of Ardclinis . Transcript of the text part for the new cartographic recording by the Ordnance Survey , written in 1832 by John Chaytor. Glens of Antrim Historical Society website, October 25, 2005, accessed May 25, 2016
  3. ↑ 'Rag tree' at Ardclinis will not be touched. Ballymoney Times, September 30, 2009, accessed May 25, 2016

Coordinates: 55 ° 3 ′ 21.7 ″  N , 6 ° 0 ′ 38.5 ″  W.