Leixlip / Léim an Bhradáin / Lexlip

Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)

Results: 3 records

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human figure - head

Scene Description: One human head on each of corners of the basin

Image Source: Pike (1989: 50)

Copyright Instructions: Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)

view of stoup

Image Source: Pike (1989: 50)

Copyright Instructions: Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)

view of stoup

Image Source: Pike (1987-1991: pl. 2)

Copyright Instructions: Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)

INFORMATION

FontID: 00864LEI

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of Our Lady's Nativity (R.C.) [may be originally from the Old Chapel on the Rye Water]

Church Patron Saints: St. Mary the Virgin

Church Location: 6 Old Hill, Leixlip, Co. Kildare, Ireland

Country Name: Republic of Ireland

Location: Kildare, Leinster

Directions to Site: Leixlip is a located just off the M4, halfway between Dublin and Maynooth, to the W of Lucan; 13km W of Dublin.

Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Dublin

Font Location in Church: Reported ca. 1989 outside the R.C. church

Century and Period: 12th - 16th century, Medieval

Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Dr. Rachel Moss, and to Trinity College, Dublin, for the copy of Ms. Pike's work, and to Ms. Joan Pike for her kind permission to reproduce her original drawings].

Church Notes: present church ca.1835

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Described and illustrated in Pike (1989: 50): "This Holy Water font outside the Roman Catholic Church, which could be Medieval, is said to have come from the Old Chapel on the Rye Water before 1833", as the inscription on the modern pedestal base on which stands reads. The object, which Pike identifies as made of limestone and without a drain, appears cauldron-like and roughly hemispherical and is ornamented with four small human heads at 90-degree angles of the upper basin sides. The chapel was noted in A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) at the time: "a small edifice, situated on the banks of the Rye Water, [...] about to be replaced by a handsome structure of larger dimensions."

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 53.36427, -6.48807

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 53° 21′ 51.37″ N, 6° 29′ 17.05″ W

UTM: 29U 667139 5915735

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone

Number of Pieces: two

Font Shape: cauldron-shaped

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: round

Diameter (includes rim): 31.75 cm (width=diameter?)

Basin Total Height: 25.4 cm

Height of Base: 73.66 cm

Font Height (less Plinth): 99.06 cm [inludes modern base]

Notes on Measurements: Pike (1989: 50)

INSCRIPTION

Inscription Language: English

Inscription Location: on the modern pedestal

Inscription Text: 'HOLY WATER FONT FROM THE OLD CHAPEL ON THE RYE WATER BEFORE 1833"

Inscription Source: Pike (1989: 50)

REFERENCES

Pike, Joan H.K., "Medieval Fonts of Ireland", [Supplied courtesy of The Dept. of the History of Art, Trinity College, Dublin], [Ireland]: [Privately printed], 1989

Pike, Joan H.K., "Medieval fonts in Kildare", 17, Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society, 1987-91, pp. 206-210; r["References"]