Kilkenny No. 1 / Cill Chainnigh

Described in a presentation to The Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society on 11 April 1866 by the Rev. James Graves, and illustrated with an engraving by O. Jewitt: "the ancient font of the parish church of Kells [...] This font was of very early date, decidedly Norman in its character and ornamentation. The bowl presented the form of the Norman 'cushion' capital, and was originally carved [...] only at one angle -- the remaining angles never having received the enrichment which was evidently intended. The material was freestone, and probably was imported from England. The pillar was originally higher, one stone being now lost, and the bowl was intended to be lined with lead; the remains of hinges, and of a fastening or hasp, showed that it was originally provided with a cover [...] The date of this font might safely be assigned to the latter end of the twelfth century; and it was probably carved by some of the English Canons introduced by De Marisco [i.e., Geoffrey De Marisco, founder of the monastery at Kells in 1183], as it bears no trace of Hiberno-Romanesque workmanship. It now [i.e., 1866] [...] serves as the font for the Cathedral of St. Canice [i.e., in Kilkenny], the four angles having been newly carved in facsimile of the original ornamentation, and the bowl suitably restored." Described and illustrated in Pike (1989: 13-14) as a cushion-capital font. probably of the late 12th or 13th century, and originally from Inchiholohan, in the same county; the font is square inside with a drain now blocked; the pedestal base may be of a later date or reconstructed. Pike (ibid.) describes the ornamentation as "Old English leaf on two sides with Fleur-de-lis in the spandrels". [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]. The font is shown to the west of the penultimate column on the SW side of the nave in a plan of the church interior, a drawing by J.G. Brien, in Francis Grose (1791, vol. 1), reproduced in Barry (1985: pl. 11b on p. [29])