Selskar Monastery

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The north nave is the best-preserved part of the monastery, which survived the 1826 conversion into an Anglican church unscathed

The monastery Selskar , also called Selsker ( Irish Seilsceir ), ( English Priory of SS. Peter and Paul of Selskar by Wexford ) was founded before 1240 as a priory of the Augustinian Canons in Wexford , Ireland , which was consecrated to Saints Peter and Paul . The monastery was closed in 1540 during the Reformation . In 1826 part of the ruins was demolished and part renovated to build a new Anglican church in neo-Gothic style , which was closed in 1951 and then fell into ruin again.

history

The founding circumstances are not exactly clarified. Traditionally, the founding of the Roche family is attributed. However, doubts were expressed about this because at the time the monastery was dissolved, the priory stated that the founder was unknown. Billy Colfer thinks it is more likely that the lands belonging to the monastery were donated by the Marshal family, who ruled the town of Wexford in the 13th century. The land holdings that can be assigned to the Roche family were added in 1402. The date of foundation is also unclear. John Cullen suspects that Wexford was founded at the time of the Vikings before the English invasion in 1169, which was followed by a re-establishment of the new masters. An early foundation is also justified with the assumption that Henry II stayed in the monastery during his stay in Wexford in 1172. Aubrey Gwynn suspects here, however, that he visited the Hospitaller Order. Another mentioned founding time is around 1190, which is associated with Sir Alexander de la Roche as the founder. Philip Herbert Hore thinks it likely that it was founded after 1216. It is only certain that the Synod convened by the Fernser Bishop John of St. John in 1240 took place in the Selskar Monastery.

The name Selskar remains a mystery and is sometimes used in the form of St. Selskar. However, a saint of this name is not known. Cullen reports from the tradition that a crusader returning to Wexford brought relics of the Holy Sepulcher , which is why the priory also became known under the patronage of Holy Sepulcher (English for Holy Sepulcher). Therefore the assumption is made that Selskar could be derived from Sepulcher . However, both Edward Culleton and Billy Colfer assume that Selskar is a Viking place name , where scar stands for rock and sel for seal . Colfer may also see a connection to a rock that could have served as a pier. Selskar then refers to a rock north of the fortified Viking city, approximately at the height of the current bridge to the other side of the Wexford harbor bay, but further inland, as the coastline of the city of Wexford was later shifted through land reclamation .

Selskar Gate , seen from outside the city walls

After the English invasion, the city wall was expanded, particularly to the north, so that the church was within the city walls. The actual monastery, of which nothing has survived, remained outside the city walls. A city gate ( Selskar Gate ) separated the two areas and possibly also gave the canons the advantage of importing and exporting goods through their own gate without having to pay customs duties at the other city gates. It is now the only remaining tower house in Wexford.

The importance of the monastery has been documented not only as the site of the synod of 1240, but also by the seat of the prior in the upper house of the Irish Parliament founded in 1297 . At the beginning of the 14th century, the English conquests came under increasing pressure from Irish rebellions. This also affected Wexford and Selskar Monastery. The prior complained that the armed conflict with the Irish had devastated the lands to such an extent that the canons considered abandoning the monastery. In 1355 a fire destroyed several documents . Pope Eugene IV commissioned Selskar to resolve some disputes or petitions between 1439 and 1442.

In view of the threatened dissolution of the monastery as part of the Reformation, the Wexford pleaded for the conversion of the monastery into a collegiate monastery , but without success. On March 23, 1540, the last prior, John Heigharne, handed the monastery over to the Crown. The value of the property has been estimated at £ 129  and 10 denarii annually. At the time, the 617  acres of land were leased to Sir Walter Browne, who ran into trouble with the lease payments, so that in 1548 the property passed to John Parker after paying £ 285 for an annual rent of 15  shillings and a denarius. The use of the church building as a parish church was retained regardless. While the monastery buildings in front of the city wall may have served as a quarry, the church building initially remained untouched. The church was in ruins as early as 1682, but it was still poorly used.

With the help of funds from the Board of First Fruits and a compulsory levy on all households in the city regardless of religion, a new Anglican church was built between 1818 and 1826. It was intended to give the Anglican parishioners of a church who are financing their church pews could afford in Santa Iberius Church not. The necessary demolition of the old choir was not without controversy. The church existed until 1951 when it was abandoned.

As part of a state funding program in the 1980s, u. a. the tower house of the city gate belonging to the monastery was also renewed.

architecture

The tower from the 14th century and changed in 1826 (left) with the neo-Gothic nave of the Anglican parish church (right)

The church consisted of two adjacent naves with a length of over 30 m, which were separated by four arcades , a tower at the end of the southern nave and a choir area adjoining the end of the northern nave. The naves can be ascribed to the 13th century, but the tower with open arches in east and west direction was added later, probably in the 14th century. Each of the two church windows had a window with Gothic tracery in the western gable. On the south side of the monastery there were four windows and a covered entrance portal.

As part of the work for the new Anglican Church by the architect John Semple, which was completed in 1826, the old choir was torn down and replaced by a new nave. The tower was used as a sacristy and renewed for this purpose, whereby the open arches of the tower were closed and its top was closed off with the battlements that can now be seen. As drawings at the beginning and end of the 19th century show, the south wall of the south nave was lost during this time.

literature

  • John B. Cullen: The Ancient Churches of the Town of Wexford . In: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland . Fifth Series, Vol. 5, No. 4 , 1895, p. 369-377 .
  • Aubrey Gwynn , R. Neville Hadcock: Medieval Religious Houses Ireland . Longman, London 1970, ISBN 0-582-11229-X , pp. 197-198 .
  • Michael J. Moore: Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford . Stationary Office, Dublin 1996, ISBN 0-7076-2326-X , pp. 162 .
  • Billy Colfer: Wexford: A Town and its Landscape . Cork University Press, Cork 2008, ISBN 978-1-85918-429-5 .

Web links

Commons : Priory of SS. Peter and Paul of Selskar by Wexford  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Gwynn, p. 156.
  2. ^ Colfer, p. 176.
  3. ↑ a b The year 1951 is mentioned by the Anglican community website and repeated at http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/Surveys/Buildings/BuildingoftheMonth/Archive/Name,1414,en.html . However, the year 1961 is mentioned in the NIAH entry.
  4. ↑ Colfer, p. 52.
  5. ^ Cullen, p. 369.
  6. ↑ Gwynn, p. 198: He refers to Philip Herbert Hore: History of the Town and County of Wexford . Vol. 5. Elliot Stock, London 1906.
  7. ↑ a b c Gwynn, p. 198.
  8. ↑ The Anglican Church calls the parish St. Selskar Parish and the former church St. Selskar's church .
  9. ↑ Cullen, first footnote on p. 369, which continues on p. 370. See also Philip Herbert Hore: History of the Town and County of Wexford . Vol. 1. Elliot Stock, London 1900, p. 78 ( villanova.edu ).
  10. ^ Moore, p. 162.
  11. ↑ Colfer, pp. 33-34; Edward Culleton: Celtic and Early Christian Wexford . Four Courts Press, Dublin 1999, ISBN 1-85182-515-0 , pp. 168-169 .
  12. ↑ Colfer, pp. 44, 56.
  13. ↑ Colfer, p. 63.
  14. ↑ Gwynn, p. 198; Goddard Henry Orpen: Ireland under the Normans , Volume IV, pp. 40ff. The four volumes originally appeared between 1911 and 1920. A new integrated edition from 2005 is available from Four Courts, Dublin, ISBN 1-85182-715-3 .
  15. ↑ Colfer, p. 59.
  16. ↑ Gwynn, p. 198; the cases are documented in the Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland , see for example Volume 8, 1427–1447, p. 660
  17. ↑ Gwynn, p. 198; Colfer, p. 86.
  18. ↑ Colfer, pp. 57, 78.
  19. ↑ Report by Solomon Richards, see Colfer, p. 111.
  20. ↑ CO. WEXFORD, WEXFORD, TEMPERANCE ROW, CHURCH OF ST SELSKAR (CI). In: Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940. Retrieved December 29, 2013 .
  21. ↑ St. Selskar Parish. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012 ; Retrieved December 29, 2013 .
  22. ^ Colfer, p. 176.
  23. ↑ Colfer, p. 193.
  24. ^ Moore, p. 162; Colfer, p. 53.
  25. ↑ Colfer, p. 55.
  26. ↑ Colfer, pp. 55-56, 71, 176.

Coordinates: 52 ° 20'29 "  N , 6 ° 27'56.6"  W.