A Cross and A Slab

I set out looking for Rathmichael Old Church and its Fassaroe-group High Cross but ended up on the Rath itself wondering how it had remained so little known despite its magnificent location and views on the Dublin-Wicklow border.  

The cross was on my way up to the Rath but despite reading something about an old church in the vicinity I had dismissed it as probably unimportant and too difficult to find.   

I was right about the difficulty in finding it but not of its importance – for me it opened the world of the earliest settlers in the area, the uniqueness of the Fassaroe crosses and the role of the Norse not just in the area but in the development of Irish art.

The church is up an unmarked narrow laneway, blocked halfway to cars.  The remains are at present almost invisible among shrubs and trees though photos I had seen on the internet showed it as open and tidy not long ago.  

My interest in it had increased when I learned of its link with St Comgall of Bangor. His school in Co Down was the training camp for great Irish scholars like Columban whose exploits in Europe are presently celebrated in the National Museum in Dublin.

At the heart of that exhibition are 17 manuscripts on loan from the Abbey Library of St Gall in Switzerland, a seventh-century library in a city named after the Irish monk Gall who arrived there in 612 with Columban. Both were graduates of Comgall’s Bangor.

The priceless handmade manuscripts on display reflect the Irish monks whose travels in Europe led to an exchange of ideas and artistic traditions, connecting Ireland to a larger world.

Comgall himself probably never left Bangor but if Columban and Gall went all the way to Europe it is not strange that other disciples would been active down the uncivilised east coast of Ireland and founded communities there in his name. I came across another example in nearby Kilcoole (Cill Chomghail – Comgall’s Church).

It would be nice to connect the artistic stonework at Rathmichael with Bangor’s scholarly tradition but in fact the ‘Fassaroe cross’ I had seen on the way up to the Rath had been discovered in a nearby field and only returned to its original (and present) location recently.  It is considered a ‘wayside cross’ and not part of a church or monastery so it has its own independent story which I hope to uncover.    

In fact it was the only standing cross I found there. The interesting carvings at Rathmichael Church are grave slabs and now hang on the church wall. I need to do more research on them also. 

There is the empty lower floor of a 10^th century Round Tower beside Rathmichael church. Known locally as ‘The Skull Hole’ it was used as a repository for skulls and bones found in the graveyard.  Having a Round Tower meant that for centuries Rathmichael was an important centre on the Dublin-Wicklow border, today it has almost disappeared into the undergrowth.

A chance discovery in Ireland can unravel a whole thread of history that can keep you busy for weeks!