Cathedral in Raphoe Townparks

Raphoe Cathedral (DG070-003001-): Adomnán (c. 624-704) ninth abbot of Iona and author of the famous 'Life' of his kinsman Colmcille was closely connected with the monastery at Raphoe. In the 12th century, Raphoe was established as a Diocesan See. There was formerly a round tower (DG070-003004-) at Raphoe. It was demolished by Bishop John Leslie when he built his palace (DG070-003003-) in 1636-7 (Wood 1937, 304-5). It can be inferred from a reference to it in John Lynch's De Praesulibus Hibernicis (O'Doherty, ed. I, 1944, 243) that the bishop's palace occupies the site of this tower (Ó Gallachair 1973, 323 also Barrow 1979, 74-75) The only visible remains of the monastery are two pieces of a sculptured door-lintel (DG070-003002-). The left half is preserved in the vestibule of the cathedral and is carved with the representation of the arrest of Christ, St. Peter cutting the ear of the High Priest's servant Malchus and in the lower right hand corner, a soldier kneels with a lance below the left arm of the crucifixion (Longinus?). The remaining section of the crucifixion now very spalled and weathered, is repre-sented on the right hand half of the lintel which is set in the external face of the N wall of the nave. There is a winged figure above the right hand arm and below it are traces of the head and lance of another soldier (the chalice bearer, Stephaton?). Only fragmentary outlines of the remaining figure-carving are discernible. On stylistic grounds, the lintel has been dated to the ninth-tenth centuries (Henry 1967, 189) but could be later. The Cathedral shows many signs of successive alterations and rebuilding. The earliest work comprises a triple sedilia and piscina bowl in the S wall of the chancel. These were discovered c. 1888 when restoration work was in progress (Drew 1888, 294). The mouldings and capitals with trefoil leaves and nail head bands are of 13th-century character. That the church was further modified in the 15th-16th centuries is borne out by the many surviving fragments of that period. The cusped ogee-headed single-light window in the S wall of the chancel has an external hood-mould (part modern) with two head terminals. At the W end of the S wall is a rebuilt two-light window with multi-moulded jambs, mullion and transom. The round head is modern and the hood-mould terminals with vine leaf enrichment have been incorrectly inverted in opposing positions on either side of the window. There is a similar hood-mould terminal and a skew-corbel carved with a sheep's head lying outside the S porch. Another hood-mould terminal (DG070-003008) removed to Drumaneny House and subsequently restored to the Cathedral was stolen from outside the porch in 1980. It depicted a hunting scene; a stag with an attacking dog on its back and a dragon with cat-like head biting the twisted stem of the terminal. The two heads at the top of the narrow rectangular windows in the S wall of the tower may also belong to this period. It was probably Andrew Knox, Bishop of Raphoe translated there in 1610, who was responsible for repairing the Cathedral. This work was undertaken c. 1622. The church was described in that year as 'ruinated and all decayed saving the walls unto which has been these two years past preparing a roof which God willing, this summer will be got up at the Bishops and parishioners charges' (Royal Commission, 212). Built into the fabric of the W wall of the S porch is a door lintel with the inscription: AN. KNOX II EP I. CVRA. It is probable that the same masons who worked at Raphoe converted Rathmullan priory into the bishop's residence where parallels occur for the moulded door-lintel and frames of two blocked-up windows in the upper section of the N and S walls of the nave. The S porch with its elaborate volute-scrolled frontage is probably late 17th century in date and replaced the doorway erected by Bishop Knox; it is certainly earlier than the grafitto date of 1732 incised on the E jamb of the interior door. Bishop John Pooley, who died in 1712, bequeathed a legacy for the addition of N and S transepts. He donated a font dated 1706 which now stands in the disused Consistory Court at the W end of the building. The transepts were built by Nicholas Forster, bishop of Raphoe, 1716-43. He also erected the tower at his own expense; the date on the keystone of the door is 1738 (Harris 1739, 282-3). During the ensuing century and a half, the condition of the Cathedral deteriorated to such an extent that in 1876, the diocesan correspondent to the Ecclesiastical Gazette considered it 'the most neglected church in the diocese' (1876, 475). Prompted by the discovery of the 13th century remains, a process of medieval re-restoration was carried out by the Architect Thomas Drew, c. 1892. The transepts were removed and the sedilia and piscina restored; the chancel-arch, the E window and the arrangement of four opposing lancets, with wide internal splays, belong to this period. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload: 22 September 2008