Font in Carrigaline Middle

In the transept on the N side of St Mary's C of I church (vol. 2, 5698), in Carrigaline. A stone baptismal font (H 1.05m) comprising an octagonal basin with a circular hollow, supported by an octagonal shaft and pedestal. The circumference of the basin is c. 0.6m. The basin contains a drainage hole and on one of the eight sides there is a smooth depression, probably for resting the arm of the person holding the infant being baptised. The basin bears an inscription 'ANO DOM WD:WG: CHURWA 1637 R/N' (see Pl. ?). The M of ANO DOM is damaged. WD and WG are the initials of two church wardens and the letters of the third line of the inscription, which have been incorrectly blackened, and those of the fourth line represent the words church warden (pers. comm. Conleth Manning). The present church was built in 1823 on the site of a church built in 1723 which itself was built on the site of an earlier church demolished 'during the early months of 1723' (O'Mahony 1993, 69). The commemoration stone of the 1723 church survives in the present church. It bears the names Philip Gillman and Richard Dorman who are described as 'Church Wardens'; these may be descendants of the church wardens whose initials were WG and WD as the post of church warden was often hereditary. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 5' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2009). Date of upload: 22 December 2009