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21

Jan

Glendalough: The valley of two lakes

Posted by rdenning  Published in history, Ireland, Uncategorized

In the summer of 2017 we spent our holidays in Ireland and staying near Dublin. One day we headed up into the Wicklow hills and visited Glendalough.  The name Glendalough  comes from the Irish Gleann Dá Loch which means “Valley of two lakes.” It is a “does what it says on the tin” type of name as it is a glacial valley with an upper and lower lake. It is area of great natural beauty and at least before the pilgrims and later the tourists came would have been a very peaceful spot. Small wonder then that it is  the site of an Early Medieval monastic settlement which was founded in the 6th century by St Kevin.

The life of St Kevin is not well documented and in fact no records survive from his life time or even close to it. So as with many cases in this period we have to turn to the often unreliable saint’s life accounts. In the case of St Kevin there is a late medieval Latin Vita found in the records of the Franciscan Convent in Dublin. According to this account, Kevin’s name was Coemgen (anglicized to Kevin. He was of noble birth. He was the son of Coemlog of Leinster and was born (according to the tales) in 498 at the Fort of the White Fountain. The account also goes on to relate miracles and other events. One example was the legend that a white cow visited every morning and evening and supplied the milk for the baby.

The upper lake at Glendalough and the site of St Kevin’s bed.

In time Kevin was ordained and according to the Vita was led by an angel to the remote location of the upper lake at Glendalough where he lived as a hermit in a cave (the cave is actually a former Bronze Age tomb which after Kevin’s time was known as St. Kevin’s Bed). Here, so the tales go, Kevin’s  companions were the animals and birds. For seven years he live alone, sleeping on stones, wearing skins and eating little and praying.

In time he began to attract followers who built the first monastery on the shores of the upper lake. Having established a thriving community, Kevin retired into solitude again in 544 but was persuaded to rejoin his followers by 550. The tales then say he presided over the monastery until his death in 618 at the extreme age of 120! Today Kevin is one of the patron saints of the diocese of Dublin.

 

The monastery as seen from the visitor centre.

In the centuries after Kevin’s death,  Glendalough became one of the main pilgrimage attractions of medieval Ireland. It was said that to be buried in Glendalough was as good as being buried in Rome. It was also the case that several trips there equated to the much longer pilgrimage to Rome.  Thus many Kings and Queens and bishops were buried here.

The golden age at Glendalough was between 1000 and 1150AD during the reigns of the Irish kings Muirchertach Ua Briain (of Munster), Diarmait mac Murchada (of Leinster) and Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair (of Connacht).  The most famous abbot of Glendalough Lorcán Ua Tuathail (Laurence O’Toole) went on to be the first archbishop of Dublin. He died in 1180. These kings and bishops and others were involved in constructing the stone buildings that survive to the present day and which are there for the visitor to enjoy.  The site of the medieval period monastery was near the lower lake.

Today there is a visitor’s centre at the site which includes a small museum and videos of the history of the monastery. From the visitors centre it is a 5 minute walk over fairly easy ground to the site.

 

We were lucky that after a day or two of rain the sun came out for our visit.  Here you can see me posing with St Kevin’s chapel in the background.

Inside the cathedral looking west.

The largest building at Glendalough is the cathedral. The earliest parts of this actually come from an earlier church – the stones being reused in the west doorway seen above.

Inside the cathedral looking east

The chancel and sacristy are later and date from the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The chancel arch can be seen above with the east window beyond.

 

There are other smaller churches on the site including St Kevin’s chapel (above).  The church also has a belfry with a conical cap and four small windows at the west end of the roof  that looks rather like a miniature round tower.

Apart from the churches and cathedral, the site has evidence of a number of buildings including a reconstructed ‘Priests’ House.’ It is not known what the original purpose of the building was – possibly housing relics. It gets its modern name from the practice of interring priests there in the 18th and 19th centuries.

To me the jewel in the crown was the round tower at Glendalough. It is considered to be one of the most finely constructed and beautiful towers in Ireland. The tower is over  30m high (just under 100 feet). The body of the tower is original although the roof was rebuilt in 1876 using original stones.  The tower has 6 timber floors, connected by ladders. The four storeys above the entrance feature a small window with the top having four windows. The door is about 3.5 meters or 10 feet from the ground.  It is clearly designed for defence. Refuge seekers could retire inside then raise the ladder making it very hard to attack. The tower was built in the years after centuries of Viking raids so this was an sensible decision and wise precaution.

The site is now dotted with gravestones of varying age – many (as above) in a state of disrepair. One caught my eye. You may recall that St Kevin was supposed to have lived until the age of 120. That might seem far fetched and yet I found this below engraving recording the death in 1950 of a Walter Byrne aged 106! Maybe there is something in the air or water here.

Glendalough was for centuries a centre of learning. The monks and scholars produced many manuscripts in Irish and Latin, including astronomical and mathematical texts and chronicles. One of the most famous manuscripts is the 12th century book of Glendalough which is now preserved in the Bodleian library in Oxford.

In 1214, the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united which led to a decline in the cultural and ecclesiastical status of Glendalough. Finally in 1398 the valley was attacked by English forces and settlement destroyed  which left the site a ruin although still seen as a place of pilgrimage.

For more details on the Glendalough Visitor Centre click here.

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Tags: Glendalough, ireland, Monastery

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20

Sep

To chance your arm – the door of reconciliation

Posted by rdenning  Published in history, Ireland

This summer I visited Dublin Cathedral and as we were walking around I came across a door standing in the middle of the floor. It is a very old wooden door with a curious hole in the middle.  Drawing closer we realized it was not only a door of significance but in fact is the door behind the phrase “to chance your arm.”

It seems that in the year 1492 the Butlers of Ormonde and the FitzGeralds of Kildare were rivals families locked in a longstanding dispute over who should be the Lord Deputy. No resolution was reached and in that year the dispute became violent and a small battle occurred outside Dublin city walls.

The fight did not go well for the Butlers and so, realizing fortune had turned against them, they fled to St Patrick’s Cathedral where they took refuge.  Their enemies pursued them to the cathedral and asked them to open the door and come out and agree to a peace.

The Butlers did not believe that they could trust the Fitzgeralds and so refused to open the door as they feared they would be killed.

So it was that Gerald FitzGerald asked for an axeman to chop a hole in the door. When this was done he pushed his hand through the door as a gesture of peace. The head of the Butler family took this as a sign of good faith and shook hands with Gerald. The fighting was over and peace restored.

Here I am chancing my arm but Jane, my wife, did not have any weapons!

The door is known today as the “Door of Reconciliation”.  It is believed then that this story was the origin of a commonly used Irish phrase “To chance your arm” or to take a risk.

 

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Tags: dublin, ireland, St Patrick

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  • The Franks Casket
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