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Cornell University Library 
 NA5491.L54G77 
 
 The church and shrine of St. Manchan. 
 
 3 1924 008 735 403 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924008735403 
 
THE 
 
 CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 THE EEY. JAMES GEAYES, A. B., M. R. I. A., 
 
 HONORARY SEOEETAUT OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL 
 ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 
 BY M. H. GILL. 
 
 1 875- 
 t 
 
 A 
 
[Impression 50 copies.] 
 January, 1875. 
 
 
THE CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 Lemanaghan is the name of a graveyard and group of 
 ruins in the townlaud and parish of the same denomina- 
 tion, barony of Garrycastle, King's County, four miles south- 
 west from the town of Clara, and about as much, as the 
 crow flies, across a large bog, north-west from the well- 
 known ancient remains at Rahen, which Dr. Petrie has 
 described and illustrated (" Round Towers," p. 241, &c.). 
 As Miss Stokes has shown in her work on '' Christian In- 
 scriptions in the Irish Language" (now in course of publi- 
 cation as the "Annual Volume" of the Royal Historical 
 and Archfelogical Association of Ireland), the influence of 
 the great school of religious art established at Clonmacnois 
 can be traced for a considerable distance at each side of 
 the Shannon, as well as up and down its stream, and hence 
 we are prepared to find a similarity of style pervading what 
 has come down to us of the ancient ecclesiastical remains 
 of the district. Indeed, even so far down the Shannon as 
 Lough Derg, we find in the ruins of the ancient parish 
 Church of Killodiernan, Co. Tipperary, an almost exact 
 reproduction of the doorway of Temple Connor at Clon- 
 macnois. We should not, therefore, be surprised to find 
 a high style of art exhibited by what remains of a Shrine 
 connected with the obscure ecclesiastical settlement at 
 Lemanaghan, closely connected as it was with St. Ciaran's 
 great foundation. 
 
 In the work above quoted (vol. I., p. 8), Miss Stokes 
 has given the following account of Lemanaghan : — 
 
 "In the year 645, Diarmaid, King of Ireland, according to the Four 
 Masters, passed through Clonniacnois on his -^aj to Carn Conaill, in the 
 Count}' Galway, where a battle was fought between him and Guaire, 
 King of Connaught, in which the former was victorious. The congrega- 
 tion of St. Ciaran made supplication to God that he might return safe 
 through the merits of their intercession. On liis return from victory, he 
 granted the lands of Tuaim Eire — that is, Ei-c's mound — to Clonmacnois as 
 
 A 2 
 
4 THE CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 ' altar sod'' to God and St. Ciaran, and lie gave three maledictions to any 
 king who should take [as a mark of supremacy] even a drink of water there. 
 In 664 we read of the death of Saint JIanohan here ; from him the place 
 was afterwards named Liath Manchain — i. e., according to O'Donovan. 
 St. Manchan's groy land— //«;!/« (Welsh llwyd) meaning grey. This St. 
 Manchan is thus described in the ' Martyrology of Donegal,' p. 27 : — 
 ' Manchan, of Liath, son of Indagh. Mella was the name of his mother, 
 and his two sisters were Grealla and Greillseach'.'^ There is a church 
 called Liath Manchain, in Dealbna-Mhec-Cochlain. His relics are at the 
 same place in a shrine, which is beautifully covered with boards on the 
 inside, and with bronze outside them, and very beautifully carved. It was 
 Manchan of Liath that composed the charming poem, i. e. : — 
 
 ' Would that, Son of tlie Living God ! 
 Eternal ancient King!' &c. 
 
 "A very old vellum book [the Martyrology of Tamlacht Maoilruain] 
 states that Manchan of Liath, in habits and life, was like unto ' Hieroni- 
 mus, who was very learned.' His day was January 24." 
 
 There is, however, considerable obscurity attending the 
 identification of the particular Manchan whose Shrine is 
 referred to above. The "Four Masters," sub anno 1166, 
 record the making of the shrine of a St. Manchan, which 
 agrees singularly well with both the character and the 
 age of the workmanship of the King's County shrine, but 
 fixes the place of the veneration of the saint, in whose 
 honour it was made, at Mohill, a small town in the barony 
 of the same name, in the County of Leitriin. The words 
 of the Annalists are as follows : — 
 
 "The shrine of Manchan, of Maethail, was covered by Euaidhri Ua 
 Conohobhair [liory O'Connor, King of Ireland], and an embroidering of 
 gold^ was carried over it by him, in as good a style as a relic was ever 
 covered in Ireland." 
 
 The engravings which accompany this paper show that 
 the Shrine under consideration exhibits in both age and 
 art so close an agreement with the date of this graphic 
 notice, that one is tempted to think either that the Four 
 Masters have been led into some mistake with respect to 
 the King Rory O'Connor and the place of veneration of 
 
 1 Altar sod — i. e., Church land, or land and Grellsech. — QUngus Keledeus de 
 
 dedicated to the service of the altar. Matrib. Sanctor. Hibcrn., in Lib. Lecan, 
 
 ■•"'IlleUaTnacaipmanchamleichoc- fol. 34, i. <», 
 
 uf a t)a pechop .1. 5peUaoouf 5pell- ' The Shrine of St. Manchan retains 
 
 peoh :" Mella, mother of Manchan of evident traces of heavy gilding to the 
 
 Liatli, and his two sisters — i. e., Grella present day. 
 
THE CHURCH AND SHRINK OF ST. MANCHAN. 5 
 
 tlie saint, or that the Shrine was from some unrecorded 
 cause transferred from Mohill to Lemanaghan, as another 
 foundation of the same saint ; and this latter would 
 almost seem the true solution of the difficulty, but that 
 the " Martyrology of Donegal" mentions January 24th^ as 
 the anniversary of St. INIanchan ofLiath, whilst it assigns 
 February 14th to him of Mohill. Colgan gives no life of 
 St. Manchan, but states a fact (" Acta Sanctorum," p. 332, 
 h. nn. 1—3) which further complicates the question ; for he 
 says that there were two Manchans ofLiath— one who 
 died of the Yellow Plague, a.d. 664, and another who 
 attended a synod with St. Adamnan, circ. 694. 
 
 This may account for the further obscurity which attends 
 his paternity, for we have a St. Manchan ofLiath, the son of 
 Sinell,-and another, the son of In-daig or Daga,^ whilst even 
 the coarbs of the Saint at Lemanaghan erroneously claimed 
 a Welsh descent for their founder.* Amidst these conflict- 
 
 1 O'Donovan (" Four Masters," note k, 
 sub an. 1531) states that St. Manchan's 
 festival was celebrated annually at Leman- 
 aghan on this day. 
 
 ^ The Book of Lecan (fol. 43, a. c.) gives 
 the descent down to Factna as follows: — 
 
 manclian leic, 
 
 Manchan of 
 
 
 Liath, 
 
 mac Sinill no 
 
 Son of Sinill 
 
 Silain, 
 
 or Silan, 
 
 niic Conaill., 
 
 Son of Conall. 
 
 ni- laiaoham, 
 
 Son of I.ua- 
 
 
 chan, 
 
 ni. f o^a, 
 
 Son of Loga, 
 
 m. ConciiU angloiT- 
 
 Son of Conall, 
 
 baig. 
 
 Anglondagh, 
 
 m. peic. 
 
 Son of Fiac, 
 
 m. Rora, 
 
 Son of Uos, 
 
 ni. pachcna epc 
 
 Son of Fnctna 
 
 niaf-eyi, 
 
 est niatr , 
 
 
 [rectc^ magis- 
 
 
 ter.] 
 
 m. Senchan, 
 
 Son of Senchan, 
 
 111. Cdlilla, 
 
 Son of Ailill, 
 
 111. Capcaicb mic 
 
 Son of Carth- 
 
 TJuGpaioi, 
 
 achmacRudh- 
 
 
 laigh. 
 
 '"Mart. Donegal," 
 
 p. 2". Colgan has 
 
 " Manchanus cognomento Luth filius 
 
 Dagse," Acta SS., p 
 
 333, a. ; and the 
 
 "Martyrology of Donegal" calls him the 
 
 son of Indagh, hut 
 
 speaks of another 
 
 Manchan of Ijiatli of the race of Mael- 
 
 croich, son of Rudrai;. 
 
 ■■he ; and also of a 
 
 Manchan, son of Failbhe, of the race of 
 Conall Gulban, son of Niall. In truth 
 there must have been many Manchans 
 amongst the monastically-disposed Irish 
 Christians of the 7th century; for accord- 
 ing to Colgan, the name is a diminutive of 
 3IrinacJi,31o7fac/ins, ' anionk.' ^^ MmicJtan^ 
 Mainchrn^ Mainchin, s^mt tria nomina 
 diminutiva deri^at-i a voce Manaeh quae 
 Moriaehum significat: et licet fuerint ah 
 initio appellativa, loco cognomenti adjecta, 
 usu postea evaserunt in propria." " Trias 
 Thaum.", Pars III. ff, n. 67. CEngusthe 
 Culdee enumerates eight Manchans, viz. 
 of Liath, Moethail, Achadhtairbh, Eas- 
 caire, Kill-aiid, Kilmanach, Ardtrichim ; 
 and Manchan, son of Krc. To this list 
 C^olgan adds five others, viz. of Desert 
 Chuilinn, Lismore,Tuaim Grene, and two 
 of Leithglenn. — O'Hanhm's " Lives of 
 the Irish S.aints," Vol. I., p. 410. 
 
 "' "Andbecausethecoworbesof .St. Man- 
 chan say that he was a Welshman, and 
 came to this kingdom at once with [i. e., 
 along with] St. Patrick, I thought good 
 here to set downe his pedigree to disprove 
 their allegations. Manchan was son of 
 Failve, who was the son of Angine, who 
 was the son of Bogany, who was the son 
 of Conell Golban, the ancestor of O'Dnn- 
 iicU " — Annals of Clonmacnois, A.D. 661. 
 O'Donovan, who quotes the above, sub 
 an. 6f>4, states that this was not M.anchan 
 of Liath, as the pedigree of the latter 
 
(j THE CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 ing aathorities it is very difficult to decide : certain it is, 
 however, that a St. Manchan was venerated in the seventh 
 century at the place from him named Lemanaghan, but 
 which was originally termed Tuaim-n-Erc, i. e., " Erc's 
 Mound ;" and it is no less certain that he died there in the 
 year 664, of the Buidhe Conaill or "Yellow Plague,' which 
 then desolated Ireland, and that we have his Shrine pre- 
 served in the locality to the present day. That it was 
 there early in the first quarter of the seventeenth century 
 we have the testimony of the passage already quoted, from 
 the " Martyrology of Donegal," which accurately describes 
 this still existing magnificent example of Irish religious art. 
 The site of the monastic establishment of St. Manchan 
 is almost surrounded by peat bogs of vast extent, which in 
 former times must have been nearly impassable.^ At 
 present it is easily accessible, both from the Prospect or 
 Boher, and Ferbane sides, good roads having been made 
 across the intervening morasses. It stands on a low swell of 
 land — an arm of the bog now reclaimed running up be- 
 tween the two rising grounds on whic'h the church of St. 
 Manchan and the cell of his mother were severally founded. 
 On the westernmost stands, in the enclosure of the grave- 
 yard, the church and "house" of St. Manchan. The church 
 is without a chancel, measuring internally 53' by 18' 5", 
 the walls being 3' 3" thick. At its western end is a doorway 
 5' 10" wide, now much ruined, the arch and gable above 
 it having fallen, and only the southern jamb and the base 
 of the northern one remaining ; the jambs were each en- 
 riched by an engaged shaft of limestone with fluted cushion 
 capital, and measure 6' 6" ia height to top of latter ; 
 this and west doorway of the Cathedral at Clonmacnois are 
 
 is traced to Maelcroich, son of Rudraiglie 1615) states that the old church of Leman- 
 
 Jlor of Ulster. The St. Manchan, who aghan was situated in tlie niiiUUe of a, 
 
 was the companion of St. Patrick, though hog, impassahle in the time of winter, 
 
 not of Welsh descent, was from Wales, and Perhaps its descriptive epithet of ^iff^A, or 
 
 was tutor to St. David. In a note to the grey, may have arisen from the contrast 
 
 Leahhar Breac copy of the Felire, at Nov. with the dark brown of the surround- 
 
 16, it is statedthat Fursa, Mochae of Aen- ing hogs. Therock being magnesian lime- 
 
 druim, Bishop Mac-Erc of Domhnach Mor stone, the soil of this "grey land" does 
 
 of Magh-Cobha, Colman of Comhrair in not present the emerald green of the 
 
 Midhe (Conry, co. Westmeath), and Man- gravelly eskcrs, which are such striking 
 
 ch-an of Liath, were five brothers. features OA'cr a great part ot the King's 
 
 ' " Four Masters," fiuh an. County. The esl<er of Clonmacnois is re- 
 
 2 The " Liber Viridis Midcnsis" (a. u. markable for its verdure. 
 
THE CHUDCH AND SHEINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 7 
 
 apparently of the same age. The arch was of two orders, and 
 the capital of a disengaged external shaft remains at the 
 north side. Some very massive uncoursed masonry is to be 
 seen in the lower part of the west gable, and the walls of the 
 church are, at all events, as old as the doorway, which is 
 late in the twelfth century. The west end may, however, 
 contain masonry belonging to an earlier structure. Win- 
 dows of the fifteenth century have been inserted, and there 
 is a chasm in the south wall where probably stood a door- 
 way of the latter date. A few yards to the north of the 
 church are the remains of what is traditionally known as 
 " St. Manchan's house." It measures 23' by 17' 8" inter- 
 nally; the walls being 3' thick. The western gal)le has fallen, 
 so that there is no trace of the doorway ; ordy small por- 
 tions of the walls remain, and they are apparently of a date 
 not older than the neighbouring church, the stones being 
 of no great size, and the mortar abundant. 
 
 There are six early Irish tombstones at present to be 
 seen in the church3^ard. Two of them are of large size. 
 One of these is of sandstone, lying in the grass to the south 
 of the church, and is inscribed with a large interlaced cross 
 of a kind common at Clonmacnois. The other is a squared 
 
 Surface ornament on Tombstone, Lemanaghan. 
 
 Upright sandstone slab, like the shaft of a cross, covered at 
 one side with a rare modification of the T pattern in low 
 
8 THE CHURCH AND SHRINK OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 relief, of which a specimen is here engraved. Three of the 
 stones have plain early circle-enclosed crosses on them, and 
 one, which is inscribed, bears a beautifully interlaced cruci- 
 form design, drawn by Miss Stokes in "Christian Inscrip- 
 tions" (vol. I., pi. LIL, tig. 129). The name seems to read 
 RGUCtN, who is considered by Miss Stokes to have been 
 the father of Maelbrighde, Abbot of Clonmacnois in the 
 tenth century. Two portions of ancient querns are also 
 used as headstones. 
 
 Thirty yards east of the churchyard is Tobar Manchain, 
 the Well of St. Mauchan, surrounded by venerable ash trees. 
 It is by the side of the ancient togher or road, which leads 
 from the churchyard by the well in a south-easterly direc- 
 tion across the bog to the cashel-enclosed cell or "house" 
 of the mother of the saint. Two hundred and eighty yards 
 from the well there is a large sandstone flag lying on the 
 toyher ; and tradition sa}s that here every day the saint 
 and his mother, Mella, met, and sat without speaking to 
 each other, back to back at each side of the leac^ then 
 erect — St. Manchan having vowed not to speak to a woman. 
 The togher extends sixty-seven yards further on until it 
 meets the edge of the low swell on which stands the cell 
 which St. Manchan, according to tradition, built for his 
 mother", from which to the rnur (which encloses St. Mella's 
 cell) is forty-seven yards. The road is paved with large 
 flag-like stones, some of which are marked with hollows, 
 traditionally said to be the tracks of the cow of St. Man- 
 chan,^ the theft of which, notwithstanding that the robbers 
 compelled the beast to walk backwards, was miraculously 
 discovered by the indentations left by her feet on the stones 
 of the toqher. This ancient paved road, which is of the 
 same character as that leading from the Seven Churches 
 to the Church of the Nuns, at Clonmacnois, still remains 
 tolerably perfect. 
 
 The cell of St. Manchan's mother is surrounded by a very 
 ancient mur, or wall of earth faced with stonework, speci- 
 mens of which are engraved on the opposite page. The 
 enclosure is rectangular, and measures fifty yards by thirty- 
 
 1 There is a custom still extant at Leman- wayfarer may claim from the farmer's 
 aghan, said to have been handed down ^yife a draught of milk gratis. It must 
 from the saint's time— viz., that every not be sold. 
 
DOORWAY OF THE CELL OF ST MANCIIAN'S IIOTHER, LEMANAGHAN. 
 
THE CHURCH AND SHRlNlfi OF ST. MANCHAN. [) 
 
 six. Large boulders are to be seen on the surface of the ad- 
 jouaing land, and some of them have been used in the con- 
 struction of the mur. About centrally within this space 
 stands the cell, a small rectangular building, measuring 18' 
 bv 10' 10" the walls beino; 3' 2" thick. Both the cell and its 
 
 
 ■^^^^^mmmz::' 
 
 P;irt of JSnr enclosing the Cell of the Mother of St. Manohan. 
 
 enclosure lie east-north-east, and the square-headed door- 
 way (see Plate facing this page), remains in the west-north- 
 west side of the former. The lintel and one of the jamb- 
 
 Fart of .Unr enclosing the Cell of the Mother of St. Manchin. 
 
 stones pass tlirouizli tlie entire thickness of the wall. There 
 is no sign of any mode of hanging or fastening the door, the 
 
10 THE CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 ope of which is very narrow for its height. The sides are 
 inclined — the width being 24|'' at bottom, and 21|" at top. 
 The height of the doorway at present is 5' 5". The east 
 gable has fallen and tliere is no window in the sides of the 
 building, which are about 10' high. The remains of this 
 curious cell are at present mantled with ivy, and the enclo- 
 sure round it is thickly planted with young trees. There 
 is no trace of this cell having had a roof of stone. The walls 
 indeed seem too thin to bear its weight. 
 
 The Shrine of St. Manchan is preserved^ in the chapel 
 of Boher, the Roman Catholic place of worship for the 
 parish of Lemanaghan, under the care of the parish jjriest, 
 the Rev. J. Dardis, who has kindly given me access to the 
 Shrine.^ It was formerly kept in a small thatched building, 
 not far from the Doon, used as a chapel ; and tradition has 
 it that this building having been burned, the Shrine was 
 miraculously preserved, and was the only thing saved from 
 the fire. It then was placed in the keeping of the ancient 
 Irish family of Moony, of The Doon,^ but in consequence of 
 the resort of the peasantry to the house of the present Mr. 
 Aloony's grandfather to swear on the Shi'ine, it was, at the 
 request of the then Roman Catholic parish clergyman, 
 handed over to him, from whom it has come down to its 
 present guardian. 
 
 ' It is much to be regretted that the Messrs. Gun and Cameron, illustrate this 
 
 glass case, under which the Shrine is paper. 
 
 placed on a side altar, is not locked. ' Robert J. Enraght Moony, Esq. 
 
 Wben I saw the Shrine last, one of D. L., of The Doon, is the present repre- 
 
 the clamps which fasten the lower bor- sentative in the female line of the 
 
 dcr was detached, and might be easily O'Maenaigh or O'Moony, who claimed 
 
 lost. descent from a branch of O'Connor Faly. 
 
 2 The Rev. J. Dardis having deposited On the decease of the last of the race, Owen 
 the Shrine in the Loan Collection formed Moony, Esq., of The Doon, his nephew, 
 in connexion with the Dublin Exhibition Mr. Enraght, assumed, with the estate his 
 of 1872, he permitted it to be photo- mother's name in addition to his own. 
 graphed by Mr. William Lawrence, the O'DonoTan, "Four Masters," A. D. 1493 
 official photographer to the Exhibition. in a note to the statement that two 
 From these photographs the woodcuts, sons of O'Maenaigh were taken prisoners 
 which illustrate this paper, have been by Macgheoghan, and deprived of eiohty 
 carefully engraved. The Shrine had been horses, when fighting on the side of O'Con- 
 sentto the first Dublin Exhibition of 1853, nor Faly, confirms this statement made by 
 and a description of it from the pen of Brewer in his "Beauties of Ireland " Vol. 
 Dr. Robert Travers, accompanied by II., p. 144. The residence of Mr. Moony 
 engravings, was given at the time in takes its name from a fine Doon or Dun 
 " The Exhibition Expositor." Two of the in the demesne, beneath which is a scries 
 cuts which appeared in that article, of crypts; and there are considerable re- 
 representing one of the bosses, and a mains of the ancient castle of the O'Moonys 
 portion of a border, by the kindness of still extant. 
 
a 
 2; 
 ■< 
 
 2: 
 
THE CHUKCII AND SHIUNK OK ST. MANCIIAN. 11 
 
 The Shrine is made in the form of a gabled roof of very- 
 steep pitch, and there can be little doubt that this form was 
 adopted in imitation of the high pitched stone roofs which 
 covered the ancient " cells" of the saints in whose honour 
 these shrines were made. Its dimensions are 23" by 13" 
 at the base, and the sloping sides measure 19". It is sup- 
 ported by four substantial feet, 2" high, formed of plain 
 bronze, panelled, which follow the rake of the sides. At the 
 junction of the feet with the bottom, four massive bronze 
 rings are attached to the Shrine by heavy clamps of the 
 same metal, and no doubt served for the insertion of the 
 staves used to carry it in procession. The rings are ^" thick 
 and the openings 2^" in diameter, so that the staves 
 were probably 2" thick. Three of these clamps and 
 rings remain, the fourth is lost. Where the clamps join 
 the sides there are grotesque monsters' heads pointing 
 upwards, which, with all the other metal works, were 
 heavily gilt.^ The sides of the clamps are ornamented 
 by enamels designed in various modifications of the T 
 pattern in red and yellow. The rings are plain. The 
 Shrine at present stnnds 19" high, but its cresting has been 
 lost. The accompanying Plates show both sides of the 
 Shrine in their present state.^ At bottom the Shrine is sur- 
 rounded by a border of bronze 1|" wide, ornamented by 
 T pattern enamels, at regular distances, in red and yellow 
 of the same character as those on the ring-clamps. These 
 enamels, as well as the others alluded to, are of the kind 
 termed chamjjleve, being sunk into the bronze, and the 
 spaces between them are enriched with chevron ornaments 
 executed by the graver. They were joined near the legs 
 
 ' I am informed by the Rev. Mr. Dardis in procession. It is probable tbat their 
 
 that a former priest's servant maid, of claim was well-fouuded, for, as I am in- 
 
 course without instructions, industriously fonned by JMr. W. M. Hennessj', Buckley 
 
 set to work to clean the Shrine, and sue- is the modern form of ff HiuichaUa^ or 
 
 ceeded but too well in scouring off most 'descendant of liiiaeliail,' i.e. ' cow- 
 
 of its gilding. He also tells me that a keeper;' from bua = l)o, 'a cow,' and cail, 
 
 family in the locality, named Buckle}', ' keeping.' 
 
 claim to be the descendants of the ^ The timber of the Shrine is said to have 
 
 Biiachail (locally pronounced Bohooly) been originally covered with thin plates of 
 
 or cow-herd of the Saint, and the heredi- silver, upon which the figures and other 
 
 tary bearers of the Shrine. As such they ornaments of thin bronze were laid. The 
 
 sought the right, which wa.3 granted Piev. John O'Hanlon states that a few frag- 
 
 them, ofoarryingit tothe Chapel of Bober ment.g of this silver ground remain to he 
 
 from Mr. Moony's house, accompanied by seen. — O'llanlon's " Lives of the Irish 
 
 the clergy and inhabitants of the parish Saints," Vol. I., p. 4H. 
 
BOSS EllOM SHRINE OF ST. MAN"CHAiY. 
 
KIGHT-IIAXD GROUr OF FIGURES FROM SHKINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
I-IOSS FltOJI SHEINE OF ST. 3IANCHAN, 
 
THE CHCRCH AND SHRINK OF ST. MANCHAN. 18 
 
 by eight clamps, each of which passed under the bottom of 
 tlie Shrine and was fastened, above the border, by a bronze 
 pin passing through a monster's head. Two of the clamps 
 are lost, and one is loose. The sides of the Shrine above this 
 base monlding have borders l-^" wide, the edges of which 
 are hammered up into cable mouldings, and the flat central 
 band tilled in with continuous pierced metal work, exhibit- 
 ing animal interlacings of the most intricate and elegant 
 kind. Tins ornament was formed by the graver, and the 
 metal between the interlacings is removed, showing the 
 timber of the Shrine beneath. On the space enclosed by 
 the border is fixed a cross, the horizontal arms of which 
 measure 18" in extreme width, and 17" in iieight ; the 
 arms which spring from a raised central boss like those 
 found on our ancient stone crosses, are similarly terminated, 
 each boss being 4^'' in diameter, and 1^" in relief. These 
 bosses, one of which is engraved on the previous page, and 
 another given in the accompanying Plate, are enriched 
 with interlaced lacertine ornament, whilst another of equal 
 size at the centre has the compartments into which it was 
 divided enipt}'. These einpty spaces were probably origin- 
 ally tilled in with enamel, and one of the compartments has 
 at present a late fifteenth century ornament in silver 
 inserted. The arms are each divided by enriched bands 
 into four rectangular spaces, all tilled in with yellow and 
 red enamels of the same character as those on the basal 
 border. Originally the eight spaces formed by the arms of 
 the crosses were occupied by figures in high relief, some of 
 which were ecclesiastical, some lay. There are indica- 
 tions ^ that originally each side contained sixteen figures 
 below and ten or twelve above, each row being equally 
 divided by the upright limbs of the cross. 
 
 Only ten figures remain, which measure from 7" to 5" 
 in height. The first of these (see Plate facing this page), 
 beginning at the right-hand side ( the spectator's left) of the 
 Shrine, has the hands joined, and although it may at first 
 sight appear that a shirt, with a separate kilt attached to 
 the girdle, is indicated, yet I think it will be seen on 
 examination that the figure is habited in one close-fitting 
 
 ^ This is shown by the holes in the tim- these nails, or of modern substitutes 
 ber of the Shrine whereto the figures were which fasten the figures to the Shrine, 
 fastened by nails of bronze. The heads of will be seen in the engravings. 
 
14 
 
 Tflli CEIUHCH ANIJ SHRINK OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 outer, slieved covering 
 below it the tail of the 
 
 garment,' over wliich appear the plaits of another,^ and 
 
 a girdle' erjcircles the hips, and 
 inner garment forms a richly 
 embroidered kilt reaching below the knees : the legs 
 and feet are bare,'* and the hair and beard are straight. 
 The next figure, habited in the same fashion, has a curled 
 beard. The right hand holds a short stick with a hook 
 which passes over the fingers, and is probably the riding rod 
 described by Giraldus Cambrensis ("Top. Hib.") Dist III., 
 cap. X., and the left is raised and open, with the palm 
 turned out. The third figure, similarly habited, has the left 
 hand closed on the riding rod, and the face is apparently 
 beardless. The fourth effigy wears a plaited kilt, and 
 holds a battleaxe^ in the right hand : the beard is long 
 and bifid, and the girdle is a twisted cord. The fifth 
 figure resembles the first, except that the girdle is orna- 
 mented, and the beard curled. It will be remarked that 
 the figures increase gradually in height towards the middle 
 of the Shrine, where the groups are intersected by the up- 
 
 ' This is evidently the leiniclh, a tight 
 fitting gannent, without sleeves, which de- 
 S(-ended to the knees, and sometimes lower. 
 O'Ciirry, in his Lectures on the " Manners 
 and Customs of the Ancient Irish," is of 
 opinion, that when written leiiie it indi- 
 cated a shirt, and when given as Ichiidh 
 it means a kilt ; but the learned Editor of 
 these Lectures, Dr. Sullivan, concludes, 
 "U'ith reason, that the shirt and kilt were 
 one garment, in other words, that the 
 lower part of the shirt formed the kilt. 
 This is confirmed by the tigures on the 
 Shrine, some of which are without girdles, 
 and show the continuity of this garment. 
 Celt (anglicised kilt) is not a modern terra, 
 it means ' vestis' according to Cormac's 
 Glossary, and O'Clery's Glossary has ceatt 
 ■ i • erlach. Compare celare, Lat. ; lit'lan, old 
 High German ; cc^m, Welsh. — See Dr. Whit- 
 ley Stokes' " Remarks on the Celtic Addi- 
 tions to Curtius's Greek Etymology," p. 2. 
 When of linen the leinidh was white, or 
 yellow, but oflen richly embroidered, as we 
 see it here, on the lower portion, and at the 
 neck, and was sometimes of wool and 
 silk. In the Tain Bo Chuailgne, and other 
 ancient tales, the leinidh is described as 
 red, white with red stripes, variegated, 
 stiiped, and streaked, and also as eml)roi- 
 dered with gold and silver thread. — 
 " Manners and Customs of the Ancient 
 Irish," Vol. I., Introduction, p. ccclxxviii.; 
 
 Vol. III., p. 106. Derrick ("Image of 
 Ireland," 1578) both pictures and de- 
 scribes the shirt, or leinidh^ as set thick 
 with plaits, and reaching to the knee. 
 
 2 This is the inar^ wliich was some- 
 times tight-fitting, and then termed inar 
 cliahh. The latter is usually described as 
 forming part of a splendid dress. — " Man- 
 ners, <fcc.," Vol. I. p. ccclxxvi. 'I'he poet 
 jMac Liag received from Tadhg O'Kelly 
 " an hundred scarlet tunics [^inars] ;" and 
 Donnehadh Caii-brech O'Brien, when in- 
 augurated in the year 119i, wore over a 
 "splendid shirt," "a brown satin tunic 
 [i«ar] lustrous and light." — ^' Id.," Vol. 
 III., pp. 1.53, 154. The inar, in general, 
 was a sleeved frock or tunic, below which 
 appeared the kilt, or end of the leinidh. 
 Cu Chiilaind's" cJiab-inar" reached to the 
 top border of his kilt. — Tain Bo Cuailgne. 
 The Dagda's iHffr extended to his buttock. 
 —Second Battle of Magh Tuired. 
 
 ^ This is the cris, below which hung 
 the tail of the leinidh, forming the kilt. 
 The cris was often richly embroidered. 
 
 * It has been suggested that the figures 
 wear tight trews, made from stuff cut bias, 
 which we know from .ancient Irish MSS., 
 and from examples found in bogs, were 
 formerly in use in Ireland. But all the feet 
 are bare, and there is no indication of the 
 termination of trews. 
 
 ' The occurrence of this weapon inJi- 
 
LEFT-HAND GROUP OF FIGUUKS FROM SHRINE.OF ST. SIANCIIAN. 
 
THE CHURCH AND SHRINK OF ST. MANCHAN. 1,5 
 
 right limb of the cross. Passing the cross, the left-hand 
 group (see Plate facuig this page) commences with a figure 
 resembling the fifth, already described, except that the girdle 
 is twisted, and the hands are not joined. Tlie seventh figure 
 resembles the sixth, the arms being folded, as also appears to 
 be the case with the eighth ; whilst the ninth resembles the 
 fourth in all particulars, except that the hands, instead of 
 holding a battle-axe, grasp the long bifid beard, and the 
 girdle is plain. The tenth efligy holds something hke the 
 square satchel or case of a book in his hand, and the scal- 
 loped juncture of the tunic with the kilt is not hidden by a 
 girdle. These ten figures are, it must be allowed, most 
 interesting examples of the lay or militarj' costume of the 
 Irish in the twelfth century ; I use the term lay advisedly, 
 for I cannot recognise any indications of the tonsure, or 
 the vestments of the ecclesiastical class, whicli, no doubt, 
 as we shall see, had its representatives also on this remark- 
 able Shrine. That the dress is that of the chieftain order 
 is almost certain from the richness of the embroidery of 
 the kilts and of some of the girdles. 
 
 What has become of, sa}', fifty-two other effigies which 
 must have filled the other six compartments formed by the 
 arms of the crosses, it is impossible to say. The holes by 
 which they were attached to the wood of the Shrine still re- 
 main to tell their tale ; and from the slightness of the fasten- 
 ings it is fortunate that all have not been detached and lost. 
 Some may, perhaps, still be traced ; and in the Plate which 
 faces next page are represented, full-size, two effigies, which, 
 I venture to say, must have belonged to this or a very simi- 
 lar Siirine. No. 1 has been already engraved full size, and 
 noticed in the " Journal of the Royal Hist, and 
 Archaeol. Assoc, of Ireland" (vol. I., third series, p. 224), 
 and the cut is here reproduced by the kindness of 
 Mr. Robert Day, jun., of Cork, wlio is the fortunate pos- 
 sessor of the antique. It is, like all the others, of bronze gilt,' 
 was purchased by Mr. Day at Athlone, and was said to 
 have been found at Clonmacnois — a fact very significant of 
 
 cates the comparatiYely late date of the to excito the astonishment of Giraldus 
 
 Shrine. The earliest mention of the hat- Carabrensis. 
 
 tleaxe which O'Curry was able to find, ' The heavy gilding which this figure 
 
 occurs afterthe incuisionsof the Northmen still exhibits, serves to show the condition 
 
 f-miliarized the Irish with that weapon ; of tlie Shrine before it was "cleaned'' 
 
 in the use of which, adopted by them Mr. Day informs me that the figure fits 
 
 from the Danes, they became so expert as one of the vacant places on the Siirine. 
 
16 THE CHURCH AND SHRINK OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 its having been lost at some time from the Lemanaghan 
 Shrine. It only retains a portion of one leg, and exhibits 
 no girdle — the scalloped junction of the doublet and kilt 
 resembling the fourth figure still attached to the shrine. 
 The hands are raised and open, palm outwards, the chin is 
 bearded, and, which is most interesting, the head is protected 
 by a richly adorned conical helmet, covering the neck behind 
 and at the sides,' but without the nasal of the Norman helm. 
 On the same Plate, figure 2, is represented, full size, a bronze 
 figure, now preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish 
 Academy, the history of which is unknown, but which pro- 
 bably belonged to the Shrine of St. Manchan, for it resem- 
 bles the others in the unnaturally elongated figure, 
 and the rude attempt at expresssion of face^ which 
 characterize the others ; and in having been gilt. The 
 costume is, however, unimstakeahly ecclesiastical, and from 
 the hands being represented as grasping a short cam- 
 butta or pastoral staff, it is evidently intended for a bishop, 
 the head being also covered by a mitre of ancient form. 
 The alb and chasuble are plainly recognisable, of much 
 shorter fashion, however, than was the usage in later 
 times. Both vestments are embroidered in a style that 
 agrees with our Shrine figures. The an- 
 nexed cut indicates the pattern on the cha- 
 suble, which is very indistinct. This figure 
 resembles another of a similar character, 
 which is modelled in wood, and is still pre- 
 served in the Petrie Collection, Royal Irish 
 Academy. It was engraved in the "Dublin 
 Penny Journal," vol. i., p. 97, to illustrate the 
 second paper contributed by Dr. Petrie to 
 that periodical, descriptive of ancient Irish 
 art. This figure that eminent antiquary de- 
 signates as ecclesiastical, and contrasts with 
 it another, also engraved on the same page, 
 which he describes as a layman clothed with suwe^orEcckSat 
 the '' philabeg," and which so closely resembles *"""' ^'^"• 
 the ninth figure still adorning the Shrine, that it is almost 
 
 ^ Cu Chulaind's charioteer, wlien armed Tain B6 Cuailgne. 
 fnr battle, wore a " helmet (cac-bapp), 2 The light lines about the eyes and 
 
 with a multitude of every colour and of nose, in the engraving, represent slender 
 
 rvery figure over his raid-ahoulders." — threads of inlaid gold. 
 
fe? 
 
 -1 
 
 Xo. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 FIGURES SUPPOSED TO HAVE BELONGED TO THE SHP.INE OF ST. MANCHAN'. 
 
fi i 
 
 
 
THE CHURCH AND SHIUNE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 17 
 
 certain it originally belonged to that work of art. What 
 
 become of one of the originals of these models it is now 
 
 possible to say.^ It may not 
 
 be too much to hope that this 
 
 notice of the peculiar value of 
 
 the etligial ornamentations of 
 
 the Shrine of St. Manchan, 
 
 may lead to the discovery of 
 
 the existence of this and other 
 
 figures in public or private 
 
 collections of antiquities. 
 
 The ends or gables of the 
 Shrine, which are upright (see 
 Plate facing this page), have 
 a kind of barge-course project- 
 ing over them about half an 
 inch, covered by a narrower 
 border of similar character to 
 thatwhich surroundsthe sides; 
 inside this is another flat bor- 
 der, engraved (but not pierced) 
 with interlaced animal orna- 
 ments, of which a specimen is 
 given in the accompanying cut, 
 and the triangular space thus 
 enclosed is covered by a plate 
 of bronze, the entire surface 
 of which is enriched by most 
 wonderfully intricate and ele- 
 gant interlaced work, the form 
 being animal, and each end 
 being; divided into two com- 
 partments by a monster ot 
 elongated figure, which is ri- 
 veted down to the plate. 
 
 has 
 
 nn- 
 
 Bordcr of Staine of St. Mauehiiu. 
 
 > I am indeloted to Mr. W. F. Wakeman 
 for the following information. 
 
 "The originals of the Shrine figures, to 
 which you refer, were never in the posses- 
 sion of Dr. Petrie. They formed a portion 
 of a small, but interesting collection made 
 by a man, named Maguire, who was an 
 
 official at St. Patrick's, under Dean Daw- 
 son. I saw the collection in the possession 
 of this person's widow, in Peter' s-place, 
 Dublin, at the time it was for sale. As 
 well as I can recollect, the price asked was 
 considered too high for the Academy's re- 
 sources, and the collection was sold and 
 
18 THE CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 
 
 The frame-work of the Shrine is composed of yew 
 boards, quite sound and soUd, the front being of one 
 board, and the back composed of two. The bottom is 
 apparently of the same material.^ The bones of St. 
 Manchan' are said to be still enclosed in the Shrine, and the 
 foUowino; legend relatino- to them was told to me at Leman- 
 aghan by an intelligent peasant in September, 1869 : — 
 
 " Some time after St. Manchan and a great part of his people died of the 
 great plague and were buried, the Saint's 'bohooly' [huachail or cow-hoj^ 
 being left without a protector, some men came and drove away his cattle; 
 for in those days whoever was strong did what he liked, and cared nothing 
 for law or justice. The ' bohooloy' called on St. Manchan for help, who im- 
 mediately appeared to him ; but he was so overjoyed to see his master that 
 he threw his arms about the Saint, who thereupon fell into a heap of dry 
 bones, for no sinful mortal should have touched him. On this the 
 clergy of the place gathered up the bones, and they made the Shrine now 
 in Boher chapel to hold them. The ' bohooly ' [it is satisfactory for the 
 interests of 'law and justice' to know it !] recovered the cattle, and the 
 robbers lost their lives, through the power of St. Manchan. And so, 
 although the ' houses ' of St. Manchan and his mother are to be seen to 
 this day, there is not any tomb of the Saint to be heard of at Leman- 
 agban.'' 
 
 The Shrine of St. Manchdn at present bears no inscrip- 
 tion, but it is probable that the cresting, now lost, may have 
 told by whom the Shrine was made, as well as the name of 
 the king, chief, or ecclesiastic, at whose expense it was con- 
 Btructed. The metallic coverings of one side and end are 
 nearly perfect, but the two others have lost much of their 
 ornamentation. On the back only the cross and a small por- 
 tion of the basal border remain. It is evident that the date 
 of the metal work cannot be placed so early as the seventh 
 
 went to England." I have learned from Shrine, said that when he saw it fir-st, a 
 
 Mr. A. W. Franks, through Mr. Netbitt, long time ago, it was open, and contained 
 
 that the figure of the ecclesiastic is now a quantity of human hones, includingthose 
 
 in the British Museum, having been of the U-'g and arm and the greater por- 
 
 acqitired with the Brackstone collection. tion of a skull. Dr. Petrie also expressed 
 
 ' The Eev. J. O'Hanlon, " Lives of the his surprise at the very large size of the 
 Irish Saints," Vol- 1., p. 4l4, states that the limb bones. Before the Shrine was de- 
 bottom consists of amore recent andgreatly posited in the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, 
 inferior quahty of timber ; and that on it was delivered in the first instance to the 
 careful examination the walls of the Most Kev. Archbishop (now Cardinal) 
 Shrine are found to be double, probably CuUen, in whose presence it was opened, 
 from an older Shi'ine being inclosed, or and the relics removed, with the intention 
 newly covered in the present one. of returning them with the Shrine to its 
 
 2 I am informed by Mr. Wakemau that proper locality, which no doubt was 
 
 Dr. Petrie, in a conversation which he had done. — O'Hanlon's "Lives of the Irish 
 
 with him several years ago about this Saints," Vol. I. p. 415. 
 
THE CHURCH AND SHRINE OF ST. MANCHAN. 19 
 
 century when St. Manclmn died ; indeed it is impossible to 
 assign it to a period prior to that of the Cross of Cong, which 
 is a dated work of the middle of the twelfth century. The 
 sound condition of the external timber framework of the 
 Shrine confirms the opinion here expressed ; and if we 
 could only suppose that the passage already quoted from 
 the "Annals of the Four Masters," related to this fine 
 example of Hiberno-Celtic art we might be certain that we 
 had here the munificent gift of King Rory O'Connor. 
 Would that we could now behold it in its full perfection 
 and beauty, covered with marvels of ornamental metal 
 work, enriched with figures illustrative of the lay and 
 clerical costumes of the twelfth century, a.nd over all 
 " an embroidering of gold :" as seen by the compilers of 
 the " Mai'tyrology of Donegal," in the first quarter of the 
 seventeenth century — " A shrine .... beautifully covered 
 with boards on the inside and with bronze outside them, 
 and very beautifully carved." An electrotype restoration 
 of the Shrine, from casts, made by Dr. Alexander Carte, is 
 now the proj^erty of Dr. Lentaigne of Dublin. 
 
 The cut which is given at the end of this paper, and 
 for which I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Lewellyn 
 Jewitt, represents a model of the Shrine as restored by 
 Sir William Wilde ; it may be remarked, however, that it 
 is probable the ancient cresting was different in form from 
 that here figured. 
 
 *^* In the Plate which faces p. 13 the axe should 
 appear as covered by the fingers of the hand instead of 
 passing between them. The engraving follows the photo- 
 graph, which was defective at this spot. 
 
THE SIiniNli Ol-' ST. IIANCIIAN AS RESTOKED