Ballinskelligs Abbey (in ruins) — Baile An Sceilg

National Monument No. 168. Ballinskelligs Abbey: The priory of the Arroasian Canons of the Order of St Augustine is located on the W shore of Ballinskelligs Bay. It was founded in 1210, or shortly afterwards, originating from Rattoo in north Kerry. It is recorded that the early monastery of Skellig Michael (KE104A-001----) was transferred, due to the hazardous conditions on the rock, to this location prior to the mid-eleventh century (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 192; Smith 1756, 103). The priory retained possession of the Great Skellig and of the alias 'de Rupe Michaelis'. Ballinskelligs is recorded in the Papal Taxation Lists for the diocese of Ardfert in 1300 as 'Redditus Priors de Rupe Beati Michis' (Hickson 1891, 310-12). The priory was still Arroasian and occupied by canons in 1555 (Walsh and O'Sullivan 1949, 59), and may still have been in use by 1569 (Cal Car MSS I, 389). It was disbanded by 1578, when a fiant granted the lease of 'the site of the late monastery of Canons of Ballinskilligge’, to Gyles Clinsher for twenty-one years (Hickson 1891, 312). It was leased to John Blake in 1585 (Gwynn and Hadcock, ibid.), and later came into the possession of Richard Harding (Smith 1756, 103). It passed to the Sigerson family in 1615 (Lynch 1902b, 352). With the exception of the building known as the Prior's House, the priory is poorly preserved. It is located close to the shoreline, the erosion of which since at least the eighteenth century has resulted in the destruction of several buildings and much of the SE side of the monastery and graveyard (Smith 1756, 103; OSL; Lynch 1902b, 344). A substantial sea-wall, revetted by groynes, now protects the site. The priory comprises a number of buildings which exhibit architectural details relating to various periods between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The church is of nave and chancel type with a now destroyed sacristy. Connected to the N angle of the nave is a rectangular building known as the 'Prior's House', the longer axis of which is aligned somewhat askew to that of the church. To SW of the church is the refectory, with the ruined cloister occupying the area in between. The foundations of a structure abut the W angle of the refectory; these survive as two lengths of wall, one extending N-S for a distance of 12.4m, and the second, positioned at right angles to the first, measuring 4.5m in length. The 'Castle (in ruins)' noted on the OS maps is located 13m SW of the refectory. Its foundations were intact when described in 1841 (OSL), but by the turn of the century only its NW wall remained (Lynch 1902b, 347). Lynch also recorded the remnants of a structure which was destroyed shortly before 1902. This consisted of the 'angle of a building', with the 'tide washing all around it', located 70 feet (21.3m) NE of the church and 25 feet (7.6m) SE of the sacristy (1902b, 350). At the N end of the priory complex are two poorly preserved, drystone rectangular structures. All of the buildings, except the latter, have been repaired and repointed by the OPW. Church: The present remains consist of the rectangular nave, a portion of the chancel and a segment of walling NE of the chancel. The side-walls of the nave have been repointed and restored to almost full height. The building is constructed of roughly coursed rubble set in a lime and gravel mortar with sandstone dressings. Remnants of a plaster coat survive in places on its inner wall-face. The nave measures 16.6m NW-SE x 4.9m NE-SW internally. There is no apparent trace of the cross-wall which stood 11 feet 4 inches (3.45m) from the NW gable. It measured 2 feet 4 inches (.66m) thick and stood 6 feet (1.8m) high in the 1840s (OSL). Lynch noted a breach in it, which may have marked a doorway, and recorded the shaft and base of a limestone font on its E side (1902b, 350). The shaft was octagonal in section and was secured in a square base which featured a beaded moulding on all sides. The font, which is recorded in a Lawrence collection photograph (3068 WL), was reported in 1938 as having been 'knocked half sideways' (OPW). All that remains today is a rough, rectangular block, .7m x .2m, which features a perforation. Numerous graves occupy the interior of the nave, many of them marked by architectural fragments. The NE side-wall of the nave features three windows and a doorway. The first window is located close to the NW gable and is a narrow rectangular ope, .85m high; its SE jamb is modern. The ope inclines slightly in elevation and is set in a lintelled embrasure with splayed ingoings. A similar window, with a gently plunging sill, is located at the SE end of the wall and measures .5m high. Adjacent at NW is a pointed chamfered light, the sill of which is grooved for a frame. It is set in an embrasure with a rounded rear arch, splayed ingoings and a gently plunging sill. A corbel projects from the wall-face both sides of the embrasure, midway along its height. The partially restored doorway is located 4.15m from the N angle. A number of its roll-moulded jambstones and two moulded voussoirs of its semicircular arch survive in situ. Internally, it is set in an embrasure with splayed ingoings and a segmental rear arch. There are three doorways and a window in the SW side-wall of the nave. The pointed window is similar in form to that on the NW wall opposite; a corbel projects from the SE side of its embrasure and a small slab with a rectangular depression opn its upper surface projects from the wall-face beneath. The three doorways gave access to the cloister area. That at SE retains only its lower SE jamb, which features a sinking for a bolt; internally it is set in an embrasure with splayed ingoings and a segmental rear arch. The defaced and blocked central doorway features a segmental arch of pitched slabs; the head of an ogee window features among its blocking stones. At the NW end of the wall is a narrow doorway with a steeply pitched, pointed arch formed of thin irregular slabs; this may be a modern repair. The head of the original rear arch of its embrasure has collapsed. A ragged ope is all that remains of the tall window in the NW gable; the segmental arch and the base of the splayed ingoings of its embrasure are preserved. Only the NW end of the chancel is extant. It is .7m wider internally than the nave, and originally was c. 10m in length (OSL). The dividing wall or gable features the chancel arch and survives to full height; it is topped by a bellcote. The pointed chancel arch is 3.12m high and 1.7m wide. It consists of coursed, broadly chamfered jambs of rectangular section, .85m deep, surmounted by chamfered abaci. The plain, cut stone arch is pointed and is fitted on both sides with a projecting hood. Its soffit is constructed of carefully coursed rubble and was raised on wooden centring supported in four nib-holes. The bellcote forms a vertical projection which caps the apex of this wall. It is pierced by a broad, pointed ope. The side-walls of the chancel are preserved for a length of only 2.7m. The chamfered jambs, splayed ingoing and sill of a window survive in the NE wall. The greater portion of the chancel was extant in 1841, though by then its SE gable had already collapsed (OSL). The side-walls survived to the same height as those of the nave, though most of the SW wall was collapsed. There was a second window in the NE wall, square in outline and built of cut stone externally. Towards the S end of this wall was a pointed doorway of cut stone set in a lintelled rear arch. Stokes recorded the destruction of the SE gable, and described its window as 'very massive . . . of a very singular pattern' (1871, 23). The pointed doorway in the chancel gave access to an adjoining building at NE, which was termed a sacristy by Lynch (1902b, 350). It was a rectangular structure, measuring 16 feet 6 inches (5m) x 11 feet 4 inches (3.45m). Its NW wall had a poorly preserved window of 'rude stone', the gable featured a pointed cut stone window w