Font, Stranakelly, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Religious Objects

Font, Stranakelly, Co. Wicklow

At the eastern end of a ruined church in Stranakelly, Co. Wicklow, a granite font lies on the ground in three pieces.

It is a quietly arresting thing: roughly square, with rounded edges, the kind of object that was once the ceremonial centre of a community's religious life, now fractured and resting where it fell. Baptismal fonts, traditionally placed near the entrance of a church to symbolise entry into the faith, occasionally survive in Irish ruins in reasonable condition. This one does not, but its survival in any form is worth noting.

The church sits towards the north-western end of a ridge, with gentle slopes falling away to the west, north, and east. The granite from which the font was cut is the characteristic stone of this part of Wicklow, a county whose upland geology is dominated by a large intrusive granite mass that has shaped its landscape and its built heritage alike. The font's squared form with softened corners suggests careful if plain workmanship, though without further dating evidence it is difficult to place it precisely within the long span of medieval ecclesiastical activity in the region.

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Pete F
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