Font (present location), Baile An Fheirtéaraigh, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Religious Objects

Font (present location), Baile An Fheirtéaraigh, Co. Kerry

A small stone font now sits in Baile An Fheirtéaraigh, on the Dingle Peninsula, having been removed from its original home some distance away.

What makes it quietly puzzling is its construction: not one basin but two, each perforated at the base, and apparently designed to nest one inside the other, the whole assembly likely once resting on a pedestal. A baptismal font of this kind would have been used to hold water for the sacrament of baptism, and the concentric arrangement of basins, though unusual, suggests a deliberate liturgical design rather than an accident of survival.

The font originally belonged to Ballywiheen Church, known in Irish as Teampall Bhaile Bhoithín. The smaller of the two basins is roughly circular and flat-bottomed, 0.25 metres deep and up to 0.25 metres in diameter internally, with a perforation through its base. The second, larger basin shares the same basic form and is 0.38 metres in diameter, though it survives in damaged condition. The relationship between the two pieces was noted in the 1986 archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region compiled by J. Cuppage, which suggested the smaller basin was intended to sit within the larger, the pair forming a single functioning object. How and when the font was moved from Teampall Bhaile Bhoithín to its present location is not recorded, but the displacement is itself part of the story: ecclesiastical stonework on the Dingle Peninsula has frequently migrated over the centuries as older churches fell out of use or fell into ruin entirely.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Font (present location), Baile An Fheirtéaraigh, Co. Kerry. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement