Ratass Church

Ratass Church
Rathass Church
Teampall Ráth Teas
Ratass Church
Ratass Church
52°16′01″N9°40′55″W / 52.267007°N 9.681814°W / 52.267007; -9.681814
Location	Quill Street, Tralee, County Kerry
Country	Ireland
Denomination	Catholic (pre-Reformation)
Architecture
Functional status	ruined
Style	Romanesque
Years built	10th century AD
Specifications
Length	16 m (52 ft)
Width	7.5 m (25 ft)
Number of floors	1
Floor area	120 m2 (1,300 sq ft)
Materials	sandstone, limestone, mortar [1]
Administration
Diocese	Ardfert and Aghadoe
National Monument of Ireland
Official name	Ratass Church & Ogham Stone [2]
Reference no.	57

Ratass Church is a medieval church with ogham stone inscriptions in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is a National Monument. ^{[3] [4]}

Location

The church and adjacent graveyard are located on Quill Street, in the eastern suburbs of Tralee. ^[5]

History

It is believed that a ringfort or embanked enclosure was built here first (Rath Mhaighe Teas, "fort of the southern plain"). ^[6] Later, a sandstone church was erected in the 10th century. It served as the episcopal seat of a diocese in Kerry from 1111 to 1117, when the seat was moved to Ardfert. ^[7] The west gable and part of the nave walls belong to this earlier construction; the rest of the church is later. ^[8]

Ogham Stone

The ogham stone

The Ogham Stone is from much earlier. Based on its Primitive Irish grammar, the inscription is estimated to be from around AD 550–600. ^[9]

The stone is of fine purple sandstone (145 × 34 × 20 cm), with the inscription [A]NM SILLANN MAQ VATTILLOGG ("name of Sílán son of Fáithloga"). ^[10] It was discovered in 1975 during a cleanup. The walls of a 19th-century burial vault had been built almost flush with it. ^[11]

References

1. Moody, Theodore William; Martin, Francis X.; Byrne, Francis John; Cosgrove, Art (23 August 1976). A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and early Ireland. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-821737-4 – via Google Books.
2. "National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship" (PDF). Ireland: National Monuments Service. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
3. "Ratass Church (Tralee, Ireland): Top Tips Before You Go (with Photos) - TripAdvisor". www.tripadvisor.ie.
4. Petrie, George (23 August 2017). "The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland Anterior to the Anglo-Norman Invasion: Comprising an Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland ..." Hodges and Smith – via Google Books.
5. Smith, Charles (23 August 2017). "The Antient and Present State of the County of Kerry: Being a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical, and Topographical Description Thereof ..." Mercier Press – via Google Books.
6. Stokes, Margaret, ed. (23 August 1875). "Notes on Irish Architecture: By Edwin, third Earl of Dunraven". Gge Bell – via Google Books.
7. Monk, Michael A.; Sheehan, John (23 August 1998). Early Medieval Munster: Archaeology, History and Society. Cork University Press. ISBN   9781859181072 – via Google Books.
8. "Ratass Church and Ogham Stone, Rathass Cemetery, Tralee - GoKerry". www.gokerry.ie.
9. "CISP - RATAS/1". www.ucl.ac.uk.
10. "Ogham in 3D - Ratass". ogham.celt.dias.ie.
11. "Ratass Church and Ogham Stone, Tralee, Kerry".