Church Island (Garadice Lough)
| Church Island | ||
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| Waters | Garadice Lough | |
| Geographical location | 54 ° 3 ′ N , 7 ° 43 ′ W | |
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The 4048 m² Church Island ( Irish : Inis Mór ) in Garadice Lough is one of three islands that are located in the lake in County Leitrim in Ireland . Garadice Lough is a large lake south of Drumreilly on the Shannon-Erne Canal , which connects the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland .
The island
The old walls on the island belong to the ruins of a church. The Leitrim Namebook reports that there was a burial ground on Church Island, which was reserved for the burials of Clan O'Rourke. Today there are no more gravestones visible on the island. According to local tradition, Church Island got its name because of the burial site that was once on it. The O'Rourkes were at times kings of the medieval kingdom of Bréifne . Its headquarters were on Inis na dTorc (Cherry Island), near Church Island and on the nearby mainland. The clan chief Tigernán Ua Ruairc (Anglicized Tiernan O'Rourke, 1100–1172) and his wife Derbforgaill (1108–1193) promoted the construction of the churchClonmacnoise and Mellifont Abbey .
The Church on Church Island
The old walls on the island belong to the ruins of a church whose predecessor was built by Tiegherneach O'Rourke in 547 AD. The church ruins consist of building parts from the late 12th and early 13th centuries (west side). The extension on the east side was built in the middle of the 15th century. The remains of the church were meanwhile completely overgrown with plants.
The original building had a width / length ratio of 1: 1.68, which is in the range of contemporary buildings. The dilapidated church measures about 13 × 5 meters. Investigations showed that the larger (eastern) window was made in the 15th century, the smaller (southern) window probably dates from the 12th or 13th century. It was probably built at the same time as the western part of the building, although it is now in the newer part of the building. Today's east window only appears to have an "ogee head" (back of a donkey), which is typical of the 15th century, in reality it is a strongly humped, equilateral pointed arch. The original east window was a tall, narrow lancet window .
Church Island served as a pasture until the mid-20th century; then the island was acquired by Coillte , an Irish forestry company, and planted with pine trees. The wood was felled in 2002; today only tree stumps and thickets cover the island.
Archaeologists Blake Anderson and Kieran O'Conor from the National University of Ireland in Galway visited the island in 2005. They took care of the archaeological supervision of the stabilization work.
There is a porthole on the island . This type of pre-Christian artifact is often found in early Christian places.