Rosserk Monastery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Southeast view of the Rosserk Monastery

The Rosserk Monastery ( Irish Mainistir Ros Eirc , English Rosserk Friary ) was founded in 1441 or earlier as a house for Terziaren of the Franciscan Order in the Diocese of Killala in Ireland . The monastery was closed around 1578 as part of the Reformation and badly damaged by arson in 1590. The monastery is one of the national monuments of Ireland under number 104.

history

The monastery belongs to those of the Third Order of the Franciscans, who were considered important in Ireland. Starting with Killeenbrenan and Clonkeenkerrill , almost 50 houses were founded between 1426 and 1539. For the newly founded monasteries in Ballymote ( Diocese of Achonry ), Rosserk and Tisaxon ( Archdiocese of Tuam ), a joint petition was submitted to Pope Eugene IV by the Terziaren Philipp, Patrick and Andrew O'Clumhain, which on February 23, 1442 with the approval has been answered. Colmán Ó Clabaigh regards it as an indication of the success of the order that three members of the apparently same family succeeded in a concerted action in three dioceses first of all to obtain approval from the local bishops in order to then successfully address the Pope together . The construction work had already begun at this point and based on a papal letter of December 14, 1441, which refers to a Terziaren von Rosserk, the foundation itself must have taken place in 1441 or earlier.

View from the south transept of the nave and the tower

In the 1722 published version of the Monasticon Hibernicum by John Stevens, a Joye is named as the founder, which probably means the family name Joyce . Aubrey Gwynn does not name any other sources that indicate a founder or confirm Joyce as the founder. The family is one of the tribes of Galway and has mostly settled in west Connacht . John M. O'Hara thinks it is conceivable that a member of the Joyce family married into the Barrett family's landed family and thus became the founder.

In contrast to the Franciscans of the First Order, the Terziaren saw their task in supporting the local parish priests. They were less well known as independently preaching priests or as scholars. Nevertheless, by spreading Irish texts and oral traditions, they helped revitalize religious life in the communities. Canice Mooney suggested the possibility that the text Meditationes Vitae Christi, probably written by a Tuscan Franciscan around 1300, could have been distributed via Rosserk in Connacht. The text was from the canons Tomás Ó Gruamdha Bruacháin in Killala translated into Irish; According to Mooney, this most likely happened around 1443, shortly after Rosserk was founded.

The Rosserk thirds were probably networked quite well. Evidence for this can be seen not only in the history of the establishment, but also in the rapid expansion that led to the establishment of another house in northeast Ulster in 1445 . The house can no longer be reliably identified. Possibly it was Glenarm Monastery in the Diocese of Connor .

Around 1578 the monastery was closed as part of the Reformation; the property initially fell to James Garvey, who also took over Murrisk Monastery around the same time . How long exactly the Terziaren could stay remains unclear. What is certain is that Rosserk, like Moyne and Rathfran, was burned down in 1590 by the troops of Sir Richard Bingham.

architecture

Rosserk Monastery, built in the 1440s, is the best-preserved building from the medieval Tercian foundations in Ireland. In contrast to the other houses, all areas of the monastery including the outbuildings are relatively well preserved. Rosserk is one of a series of Franciscan houses in the Gaelic west of Ireland that fundamentally renewed monastic architecture in the 15th century. This movement began with Quin around 1433 and was continued at about the same time as Rosserk in Muckross and Adare . Characteristic of these monasteries are slim and high towers with horizontal subdivisions that subdivide the nave and the choir in such a way that the center of the entire nave falls into the eastern end of the nave. The designs are more captivating with their very clean and fine stone carvings than with lavish decorative elements. In contrast to many of the earlier houses such as Castledermot or Claregalway , the outbuildings were built on the north side of the church, so that the church could benefit from the light that was still falling in, especially in the late afternoon and in the evenings. In some places in Ireland at least in the 17th century, this was the preferred time to visit Mendicant churches.

The nave including the nave , the tower in between and the choir has a length of over 27 m with a continuous width of 6 m. The arches on the west and east sides of the separating tower are unusually wide. In addition, there are slightly higher arches that support the north and south sides of the tower.

Double piscina in the south wall of the choir

The double piscina in the south wall of the choir, which is unique in several ways, is unusual . The Piscina is divided into two parts by three octagonal, vertical struts, each of which is provided with a drain basin and a round wall opening. Inside the piscina is closed at the top by a miniaturized ribbed vault with two keystones . In the two spandrels that arise on the right half of the piscina between the pointed arch and the rectangular enclosure, there are two reliefs with angels carrying tools of the Passion , a hammer on the left and three nails on the right . In the left strut there is a relief of a round tower.

Tracery of the east window

At the beginning of the 14th century, tracery windows appeared in England , in which elongated ribs in the upper part of the window were linked to form network-like structures, some of which are reminiscent of honeycomb patterns. The east window of Holycross is a typical example, also made in the mid-15th century. However, the cuts between the window arch and the reticulated structure resulted in less attractively shaped openings at the edge. There have been various attempts to solve this problem, including the east window in Rosserk, in which the honeycomb pattern is added to the edge with the help of a quatrefoil at the top, two fish bubbles and six thorn-shaped elements.

A transept is attached to the south of the nave. In the east wall of the transept there are two altar niches, each with a window and a side piscina, which is open on two sides. Between the two altar niches is a cell that Colmám Ó Clabaigh believes may have served a hermit , while Harold G. Leask assumed a small sacristy . This structure including the cell was later adopted by Moyne.

In the inner courtyard adjoining the church to the north, there are no indications that there ever was a circumferential cloister with arcades. The refectory was, like in Muckross or Adare , on the first floor and could be reached by stairs from the inner courtyard. As Colmán Ó Clabaigh points out, this not only gave the opportunity for a larger and better light-flooded room, but also a reminder of the cenacle in Jerusalem where Jesus took the Lord's Supper with his disciples ( Mk 14.15  EU ). The kitchen was immediately next to it on the first floor, so it is assumed that the small and dark rooms below were used to store food, beer and wine.

literature

View from the north window of the dormitory of the River Moy , which flows four kilometers further north into Killala Bay .
  • John M. O'Hara: Rosserk and Moyne, Co. Mayo . In: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland . Series 5, volume 8 , no. 3 , 1898, p. 258-263 , JSTOR : 25508526 .
  • Canice Mooney: The Franciscans in County Mayo . In: Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society . tape 28, 1958/1959 , pp. 42-69 , JSTOR : 25535382 .
  • Harold G. Leask: Irish Churches and Monastic Buildings . Volume III: Medieval Gothic: The Last Phases . Dundalgan Press, Dundalk 1960.
  • Colmán Ó Clabaigh: The Friars in Ireland 1224-1540 . Four Courts Press, Dublin 2012, ISBN 978-1-84682-225-4 , doi : 10.1086 / 671636 .

Web links

Commons : Rosserk Friary  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ A b c d e f Aubrey Gwynn , R. Neville Hadcock: Medieval Religious Houses Ireland . Longman, London 1970, ISBN 0-582-11229-X , pp.  267, 274 .
  2. ^ A b Mooney, p. 59.
  3. ^ National Monuments in State Care: Mayo. (PDF) Retrieved October 24, 2016 .
  4. ^ A b Colmán N. Ó Clabaigh: The Franciscans in Ireland, 1400-1534 . From Reform to Reformation. Four Courts Press, Dublin 2002, ISBN 1-85182-548-7 , pp. 96-97 .
  5. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, p. 312.
  6. ↑ John Stevens: Monasticon Hibernicum . Or, The Monastical History of Ireland. London 1722, p. 304 (English): “At Rosserick was a Monastery of this Order, built by one Joye.”
  7. ^ Seán Spellissy: The History of Galway. City & County . The Celtic Bookshop, Limerick 1999, ISBN 0-9534683-4-8 , pp. 441-442 .
  8. ^ O'Hara, p. 258.
  9. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, p. 314.
  10. ↑ Andrew Breeze: The Virgin's tears of blood . In: Celtica . tape 20 . Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, School of Celtic Studies, 1988, ISSN  0069-1399 , p. 110-122 .
  11. ↑ On the origin of the text: Walter Baier: Meditationes vitae Christi . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 6, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-7608-8906-9 , Sp. 452.
  12. ↑ Tomás Gruamdha Ó Bruacháin: Smaointe Beatha Chríost . Ed .: Cainneach Ó Maonaigh. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 1944, p. 362-363 .
  13. ↑ Canice Mooney, p. 59.
  14. ^ Hector Mc Donnell: Glenarm friary and the Bissets . In: The Glynns . xv, 1987, pp. 34-49 ( antrimhistory.net ).
  15. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, pp. 312–313.
  16. ↑ Canice Mooney, p. 60.
  17. ^ Leask, p. 111.
  18. ^ Peter Harbison, Homan Potterton, Jeanne Sheehy: Irish Art and Architecture . From Prehistory to the Present. Thames and Hudson, London 1978, ISBN 0-500-27707-9 , pp. 95-96 .
  19. ↑ Edwin C. Rae: Architecture and sculpture, 1169-1603 . In: A New History of Ireland . tape II . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987, ISBN 0-19-953970-7 , pp. 765-766 , doi : 10.1093 / acprof: oso / 9780199539703.003.0029 .
  20. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, p. 221.
  21. ↑ O'Hara, p. 258: The figures are 90 and 20 feet . The information corresponds to the drawing by Leask, p. 111.
  22. ↑ Leask, p. 112.
  23. ^ Leask, p. 162.
  24. ^ Roger Stalley: The Cistercian monasteries of Ireland . Yale University Press, London 1987, ISBN 0-300-03737-6 , pp. 115 .
  25. ↑ Leask, pp. 123-124.
  26. ^ Leask, p. 111.
  27. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, p. 235.
  28. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, pp. 217–218.
  29. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, p. 229.
  30. ↑ Ó Clabaigh 2012, p. 231.

Coordinates: 54 ° 10 ′ 16.9 ″  N , 9 ° 8 ′ 36.3 ″  W.