Liathmore_Churches
Liathmore Churches
Church in County Tipperary, Ireland
Liathmore Churches are two medieval churches forming a National Monument in County Tipperary, Ireland.
| Liathmore Churches | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teampaill an Liath Mór | |||||||||||
Foundations of a round tower | |||||||||||
| 52.670556°N 7.668611°W / 52.670556; -7.668611 | |||||||||||
| Location | Liath, Two-Mile Borris, County Tipperary | ||||||||||
| Country | Ireland | ||||||||||
| Denomination | Church of Ireland | ||||||||||
| Previous denomination | Catholic | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Founded | 12th century | ||||||||||
| Architecture | |||||||||||
| Functional status | inactive | ||||||||||
| Specifications | |||||||||||
| Materials | stone | ||||||||||
| Administration | |||||||||||
| Diocese | Cashel and Emly | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Liathmore Churches are located 2.8 km (1.8 mi) east of Two-Mile Borris.
St Mochoemog (d. 655) founded the monastery here. There are two churches and the footings of a round tower.[1]
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.[2]
The sheela-na-gig is located on the left hand side of a Romanesque doorway belonging to the larger of the two churches.[3]
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.[4]
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).[5]
- Liathmore Round tower from above
- Liathmore sheela na gig
