02/02/2023
Happy St Brigid’s Day! The church in this photo is dedicated to this early medieval saint. St Brigid’s Church, also known as the Baptism House, on the island of Iniscealtra on Lough Derg in Co. Clare, is a small, single-celled church. A Romanesque mortared-stone building, it boasts an elaborately decorated western doorway with a round‐headed arch of three ornate orders.
Within the church, 14 burials were excavated by a team of archaeologists led by the late Liam de Paor in the 1970s. The burials included women, infants/children and a pregnant female. They probably date to the 12th or 13th centuries.
Much of the church was destroyed on the “Night of the Big Wind” in 1839. Around this time, the church formed part of the pilgrimage round performed on the island, but by 1863 the church ruins were being used to house a pigsty. It was then known as “the Piggery”. Later still, it was used for human habitation purposes. When Limerick antiquarian TJ Westropp visited the island in 1877, all that remained was its foundation and a low north wall. Much of the church was rebuilt a couple of years later, including the doorway, which includes several errors in its reconstruction.
The church is surrounded by a quadrangular masonry enclosure featuring a Romanesque round-headed archway (a rare survival in this context). Archaeologists found extensive evidence of metal-, stone-, bone- and antler-working in and around the enclosure, and this dates predominately from the 11th to 13th centuries. However, cartridge cases manufactured by Kynoch’s of Arklow in 1919 were also recovered from the area, perhaps suggesting that the island was used by the East Clare Brigade of the IRA during the War of Independence.
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If you'd like to read about another interesting character bearing the name "Bridget", check out our article on Bridget "Beezie" Gallagher, the lady of the lake, who lived and died alone on Cottage Island: https://irishheritagenews.ie/lady-of-the-lake-beezie-and-her-island/
Image: © Irish Heritage News.
Boat Trip & Tours of Holy Island/ Inis Cealtra on Lough Derg; 'Jewel of the Lough'.
