THE HANDSTAND

MAY 2002
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SKETCH
by Billy Kirwan

THE PRIORY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY in Inistioge was founded about 1210 by the Norman baron, Thomas fitzAnthony, for the Canons Regular of St.Augustine.
Many such foundations were established at that time, a popular Norman custom, connected to securing one's place in heaven after a lifetime of little slips from the path of righteousness. The original occupants of the priory came from Bodmin priory in Cornwall.
At the time of the installation the priory was endowed with substantial tracts of land and fisheries, both in and outside the area. It functioned as a community for three hundred years until its dissolution in 1540.
The buildings at the time of dissolution consisted of an elongated chancel, or choir; a crossing tower; a short nave; conventual accommodation built on the west of the nave; a north transept; a large keep attached to the transept and a small side chapel on the south side of the chancel. It is very likely that a range of other buildings of a less obvious nature were attached at different times. In documents relating to the dissolution, mention is made of a 'kill(church) howse' and a 'backe howse'.
Buildings that survive to the present day, are the Nave of the conventual church; the Lady Chapel; the Black Castle, or Keep; the Crossing Tower and fragments of the Cloister Arcade.

The Nave, a roofless building to the left of the main entrance to the present Church of Ireland. It appears exceptionally short, but we must also add the base of the Tower, as it is built inside the Nave.

The Lady Chapel, a side chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. These side chapels occurred frequently in medieval churches and cathedrals, and were extremely important from the liturgical point of view, in that a daily Mass of the Blessed Virgin was given there. The foundation at Inistioge being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. Columba,(see the picture of a wellhead dedicated to him below,ed.), would no doubt have laid great importance to this chapel. After the dissolution, however, all of the priory buildings seem to have fallen into disrepair.

The Black Castle, a large, thick-walled keep, likely to have been erected as a prior's keep at the time of the original foundation. It is probably the oldest building on the site dating from 1210. It is built to a curious shape, being nearly square from the base up to about 12 metres in height and then changing to octagonal. (It is said elsewhere that there are only four towers of this design in Europe.ed.) Its upper part may have functioned as a belfry, with the lower floors being used for secure living accommodation.

The Crossing Tower, the most recent building to have been added to the priory, built in or about 1520 by the last prior, Milo FitzGerald. It is a splendid building architecturally, and in perfect preservation. It is raised on four massive granite piers, arched on the four sides and with a vaulted ceiling over the ground floor.

The Cloister Fragments: the Cloister Arcade was built contemporaneously with the bell tower, by Milo Fitzgerald. No part of this is now standing and part of the nearby Catholic Church stands on this site. Many fragments of the arcade, carved in limestone, survive. Some of these can be seen in the perimeter walls of the Catholic Church.