Font in Crickstown

The highly decorated Apostle font (H 0.99m) from the parish church of Crickstown is now in the Roman Catholic church of Curraha (ME039-005----), c. 600m to the NW, and it has been fully described by Roe (1968, 37-45). The font is carved in relief but is now covered in a white wash that obscures some detail. It is octagonal (ext. dim. 0.65m; H 0.42m) and has a circular basin (int. diam. 0.49m; D 0.27m) with shallow under-panels that are decorated with monstrous heads at the angles, separated by leaves. The Crucifixion and the Annunciation are depicted in opposite upper panels, the others being divided into two sections with a full-length figure of an apostle in each compartment. The figures on the shaft (H 0.34m) include St Catherine of Alexandria beneath the Crucifixion and, moving anti-clockwise, St Margaret of Antioch, an abbess, an archbishop and a tonsured abbot with a crozier. These three can be tentatively identified as SS Bridget, Patrick and Columcille, the leading saints of the Irish Church. Next is St John the Baptist, identified by his two-pronged beard, St Michael with a shield, triumphing over Satan as a dragon, and a bishop with mitre and crozier. The base (H 0.23m) is slightly concave and expanding outwards. It is decorated with some fabulous animals connected by a moulding. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 19 March, 2015

Apostle font built c. 12th–13th century; decorated with carved figures of the apostles; moved from the parish church of Crickstown to the Roman Catholic church of Curraha; significant as an example of medieval ecclesiastical sculpture in the region.