Liathmore Churches

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Liathmore Churches
Teampaill an Liath Mór
RoundTowerLiathmore.jpg
Foundations of a round tower
Ireland relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Liathmore Churches
52°40′14″N7°40′07″W / 52.67055°N 7.66861°W / 52.67055; -7.66861
Location Liath, Two-Mile Borris, County Tipperary
CountryIreland
Denomination Church of Ireland
Previous denomination Catholic
History
Founded12th century
Architecture
Functional statusinactive
Specifications
Materials stone
Administration
Diocese Cashel and Emly
Designations
Official nameLiathmore Two Churches
Reference no.266

Liathmore Churches are two medieval churches forming a National Monument in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Contents

Location

The Liathmore site, also known as 'Liathmore-Mochoemóg', [1] is located in the townland of Leigh (Liath) approximately 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) east of the village of Two-Mile Borris.

History

St Mochoemog (d. 655) founded the monastery here. There are two churches and the footings of a round tower. [2]

The smaller church is the earlier and dates to the early medieval period; the larger church is late medieval and was begun in the 12th century, and contains a number of tombs. [3]

Building

A sheela-na-gig carving, known as the Liathmore Sheela-na-gig, is located on the left hand side of a Romanesque doorway belonging to the larger of the two churches. [4]

The larger church: nave is 41'4" x 18'8" (12.6 x 5.7 m), and the chancel 26'9" x 16'2" (8.2 x 4.9 m). It was originally a single-chamber church with antae at the east end. [5]

The circular foundation proved to be the base of an Irish round tower. As there is no historical record or oral tradition of a tower here it is thought that it must have fallen, and its stones removed, sometime before 1500. The diameter was 15 ft. 6in. (4.7 m). [6]

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References

  1. Leask, H. G.; MacAlister, R. A. S. (1945). "Liathmore-Mochoemóg (Leigh), County Tipperary". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 51: 1–14. JSTOR   25505987.
  2. "Liathmore, County Tipperary".
  3. "Twomileborris - Burgeas dha Mhile".
  4. "Liathmore Churches, Tipperary".
  5. "St Mochoemog, Liathmore · The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain & Ireland".
  6. "61 «  Excavations".