Ratass Church

Ratass Church is a medieval church with ogham stone forming a National Monument in Tralee, Ireland.[3][4]

Ratass Church
Rathass Church
Teampall Ráth Teas
Ratass Church
Ratass Church
52.267007°N 9.681814°W / 52.267007; -9.681814
LocationQuill Street, Tralee, County Kerry
CountryIreland
DenominationCatholic (pre-Reformation)
Architecture
Functional statusruined
StyleRomanesque
Years built10th century AD
Specifications
Length16 m (52 ft)
Width7.5 m (25 ft)
Number of floors1
Floor area120 m2 (1,300 sq ft)
Materialssandstone, limestone, mortar[1]
Administration
DioceseArdfert and Aghadoe
National Monument of Ireland
Official nameRatass Church & Ogham Stone[2]
Reference no.57

Location

The church is located in a graveyard 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], before a sandstone church was erected in the 10th century AD, and served as the centre of Kerry diocese 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]

The ogham stone is much earlier; based on the Primitive Irish grammar, it is placed in AD 550–600.[9]

Description
The ogham stone

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; it had been built into the sides of a 19th-century burial vault.[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 – via Google Books.
  2. https://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-kerry.pdf
  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. "Notes on Irish Architecture: By Edwin, third Earl of Dunraven. Edited by Margaret Stokes". Gge Bell. 23 August 1875 – via Google Books.
  7. Monk, Michael A.; Sheehan, John (23 August 1998). "Early Medieval Munster: Archaeology, History and Society". Cork University Press – via Google Books.
  8. GoKerry.ie. "Ratass Church and Ogham Stone, Rathass Cemetery, Tralee - GoKerry". www.gokerry.ie.
  9. "CISP - RATAS/1". www.ucl.ac.uk.
  10. https://ogham.celt.dias.ie/stone.php?lang=en&site=Ratass&stone=Ratass
  11. http://www.megalithicireland.com/Ratass%20Church,%20Tralee,%20Kerry.html
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