Drogheda No. 1

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Results: 8 records

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angel - holding shield - emblem - the instruments of the Passion - 8

Scene Description: One in each Ogee arch of the eight basin sides, each with a different object

Image Source: detail of a digital version of a B&W photograph 15 April 2010 by Edwin Rae [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/38928] (handwritten on back of image): 75.103, Drogheda, Co. Louth: St. Peter's Roman Catholic church: Baptismal font used as holy water basin

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under a CCL Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence

design element - architectural - arcade - Ogee arches - 8

Scene Description: each arch containg a demi-figure angel holding a charged shield, but the emblems on the shields are much eroded

Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph 15 April 2010 by Edwin Rae [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/38928] (handwritten on back of image): 75.103, Drogheda, Co. Louth: St. Peter's Roman Catholic church: Baptismal font used as holy water basin

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under a CCL Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence

symbol - shield - emblem - Christ - the instruments of the Passion

Scene Description: on the left is the emblem of the ladder, very faint; the emblem on the right, again, very faint, could be the lance and the sponge

Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph 15 April 2010 by Edwin Rae [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/38927] (handwritten on back of image): 75.108, Drogheda, Co. Louth: St. Peter's Roman Catholic church: Baptismal font used as holy water font

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under a CCL Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence

symbol - shield - emblem - Christ - the instruments of the Passion - ladder

Scene Description: one of the few shields that retains an identifiable emblem

Image Source: Roe (1976: pl. 1B)

Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

view of basin

Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph 15 April 2010 by Edwin Rae [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/38926] (handwritten on back of image): 75.106, Drogheda, Co. Louth: St. Peter's Roman Catholic church: Baptismal font used as holy water font

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under a CCL Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence

view of church interior - nave - looking east

Image Source: digital photograph taken 5 October 2007 by Trounce [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter's_Roman_Catholic_Church,_Drogheda#mediaviewer/File:Nave_of_St_Peter's_Drogheda_2007-10-5.JPG] [accessed 16 June 2014]

Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0

view of font

Image Source: Pike (1989: 44)

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

view of font

Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph 15 April 2010 by Edwin Rae [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/38925] (handwritten on back of image): 75.109, Drogheda, Co. Louth: St. Peter's Roman Catholic church: Baptismal font used as holy water font

Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under a CCL Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence

INFORMATION

FontID: 00895DRO

Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Peter (R.C.) [may have come originally from the Augustinian Crucifers]

Church Patron Saints: St. Peter

Church Location: St Peter's Place, Church Lane, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland

Country Name: Republic of Ireland

Location: Louth, Leinster

Directions to Site: Drogheda is 50 km N of Dublin up the M1/N1

Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]

Century and Period: 15th century, Gothic

Workshop/Group/Artisan: Instruments of the Passion font / Arma Christi font [Roe]

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: Do not confuse this R.C. St. Peter's with C. of I. St Peter's, also in Drogheda.

Font Notes: Click to view font notes

Described and illustrated in Roe (1976): "The bowl is octagonal with eight equal sides slightly chamfered along the outer rim; the basin is circular with vertical sides and bottom sloping to the large central drain-hole, now blocked. Below the chamfered part which now seems smooth and undecorated each panel is similarly treated as a richly ornamented niche within which is an angel holding a shield on which is displayed one or more of the objects associated with the Passion and Death of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ"; these angels stand each in an Ogee arch, "some formed of twisted vine stems, others of closely pearled mouldings with the spandrils above densily filled by leafy sprays and berries in variety." Roe points out that the shallow carving and the eroded surface make the identification of the symbols difficult, perhaps, suggests Roe, because the carving was meant only as the base for painted symbols. Nonetheless Roe writes that "five of the eight devices may now be recognized. These include the Cross of Human Salvation, the Lance and Sponge shown crossed X-wise, the Three Nails in a row points down, the Ladder and a large Pincers. Of the remaining three subjects two are beyond conjecture while it is possible perhaps the third may have been the Scourges of the Flagellation." Roe points out that, besides the font at Dunsany [cf. Index entry], which has a single panel showing the 'Arma Christi', "this font is the only Irish one" showing the pseudo-heraldic representations of the Instruments of the Passion, a more common occurrance "on some English and Scottish vessels generally ascribed to the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, a dating which seems acceptable for our Irish piece." In considering the provenance of this font Roe mentions the popularity of the 'Arma Christi' representations of cult objects (broadsheets issued as 'pardons'), that no documentation of its origin has yet been found: "Locally it is believed to have come from the church of Killineer", and that there are "similarities in decorative treatment between this font and the great vessel preserved in St. Peter's" [i.e., C. of I.] that "can suggest their common workmanship as well as the probability of their provision for churches under a common administration". Described and illustrated in Pike (1989): "Outside the West door of the Church and used as Holy Water stoup stands a small Medieval, fifteenth century with no central drain, which may have come from the Augustinian Crucifers. [...] Guardian Angels holding shields stand in Ogee arches in the eight panels of this octagonal font, which may originally have been used for baptism. There is a reconstructed pedestal and base." [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]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 53.716299, -6.349385

Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 53° 42′ 58.67″ N, 6° 20′ 57.79″ W

UTM: 29U 674907 5955220

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, type unknown

Number of Pieces: three?

Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)

Basin Interior Shape: round

Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

Drainage Notes: blocked [a/p Roe]

Rim Thickness: 4 cm**

Diameter (inside rim): 33 cm**

Diameter (includes rim): 43 cm**

Basin Depth: 15 cm**

Basin Total Height: 31.75 cm*

Height of Base: 66.05 cm*

Basin Upper Panel Dimensions: 20 x 27 cm** [plus 5 cm chamfer]

Font Height (with Plinth): 97.8 cm*

Trapezoidal Basin: 48.26 cm* (width)

Notes on Measurements: *Pike (1989: 44) -- **Roe (1976: 256)

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

Roe, Helen M., "Two Decorated Fonts in Drogheda, Co. Louth", XVIII, 4, The Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, 1976, pp. 255-262, 5 ill.; r["References"]

Strickland, W.G., "Font at St. Peter's Church, Drogheda", LI, part I, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1921, pp. 77; r["References"]