Figures from White Island

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The characters from White Island

The figures of White Island are carved stone figures that were found in a church ruin on the tiny, now uninhabited island of White Island ( Irish to tOileán Bán ) in Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh , Northern Ireland . The facility is a Scheduled Monument .

The abbey was built in the 12th century; Little is known about their history. It is unclear whether White Island is identical to one of the islands Devinish-Bavag or Eo-nis mentioned in writing , on which church buildings were erected. A Romanesque door arch and a tombstone are its most important relics. Today's ruins stand on the site of a previous wooden building.

Eight small statues were embedded in the remains of the wall, which are probably older than the ruins of the stone church building that are preserved today. They were first described in the 19th century and could refer to an older monastery foundation. They can be dated to the 9th or 10th century. The figures of different sizes, and therefore presumably not forming an ensemble, appear to represent saints or clerics. Since the figures are built into the walls, it is not known how the head section ended at the top. In the case of one of the figures (No. 2 according to Lowry Corry), which had since been uncovered, it could be determined that it had a double base at the upper end.

White Island can be reached by boat from Marina Jetty.

Other figures stand by the church of Killadeas and in the cemetery of nearby Boa Island .

literature

  • Dorothy Lowry-Corry: A Newly Discovered Statue at the Church on White Island, County Fermanagh . In: Ulster Journal of Archeology, 22, 1959, pp. 59-66.
  • Dorothy Lowry-Corry: The Stones Carved with Human Effigies on Boa Island and on Lustymore Island, in Lower Lough Erne . In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Archeology, Culture, History, Literature. 41, 1932, pp. 200-204.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ HG Leask: Irish Churches and Monastic Buildings , Volume 1, 1955, p. 158, quoted in Lowry-Corry (1958).
  2. ^ WF Wakeman in Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland , Volume 15, 1879-82, pp. 276-292, cited in Lowry-Corry (1959).

Web links

Coordinates: 54 ° 29 '17.1 "  N , 7 ° 43' 49.9"  W.