Font in Abbeyleix Demesne — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Abbeyleix demesne still holds a large circular granite font with a central drain-hole, waiting beside its altar-tomb like a table set for guests who never arrived. It grew from nowhere on the old maps, as if the garden had swallowed it and only recently remembered to give it back. The nearby abbey site suggests baptism, ceremony or sacrifice, but the font itself refuses to say which. Water may have flowed through it for love, fear or hunger, carrying names so thin they vanished before reaching the river.

Not marked on the 1841 and 1907 editions of the OS 6-inch maps. Recently placed with altar-tomb (LA029-012). A large circular granite font (diam c. 0.8m, H c. 0.4m, T c. 0.15m) with a central drain-hole (diam. c. 0.1m) (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 394). Found in the garden of Abbeyleix demesne. Site of abbey (LA029-013001-) nearby. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.