Trim
Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
Results: 16 records
BU01: animal - mammal - fox - holding a goose
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/39658] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
BU02: animal - fabulous animal or monster - dragon
Scene Description: Identified by Roe as a lively bat-winged dragon
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roe, 1968
Image Source: Roe (1968: pl. XLIa)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
BU03: animal - fabulous animal or monster - maniticore
Scene Description: Identified by Roe as a horrid hybrid manticora
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle/2262/39659] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
BU04: animal - reptile - crocodile
Scene Description: Described by Roe as a crocodile with a mule-like head
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roe, 1968
Image Source: Roe (1968: pl. XLIc)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
UB01: symbol - shield - coat of arms - Butler family
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: detail of a digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle/2262/39659] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
UB02: symbol - shield - coat of arms - James Butler (4th Earl of Ormond)
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roe, 1968
Image Source: Roe (1968: pl. XLII detail)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
UB03: symbol - shield - coat of arms - Mortimer family
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roe, 1968
Image Source: Roe (1968: pl. XLII detail)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
UB04: symbol - shield - coat of arms - De Burgo family
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roe, 1968
Image Source: Roe (1968: pl. XLII detail)
Copyright Instructions: PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE
UB05: symbol - shield - coat of arms - the King's Viceroy (Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York)
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle/2262/39659] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: detail of a digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle/2262/39659] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/39658] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Joan Pike, 1989
Image Source: Pike (1989: 45)
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)
view of church exterior
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © JohnArmagh, 2011
Image Source: digital photograph taken 21 May 2011 by JohnArmagh [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TrimCathedral.jpg] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-3.0
angel - holding shield - 4
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD), 2014
Image Source: digital version of a B&W photograph by Edwin Rae -- (handwritten on back of image): c189, Trim, Co. Meath: Cathedral of St. Patrick: Font in rear of church from N.N.E. (stamp on back: A933) [http://hdl.handle.net/2262/39658] [accessed 8 June 2014]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 licence
view of basin - underbowl - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Joan Pike, 1989
Image Source: Pike (1989: 45)
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)
view of basin - underbowl - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Joan Pike, 1989
Image Source: Pike (1989: 45)
Copyright Instructions: Permission received (letter of 9/2/2004)
INFORMATION
Font ID: 00907TRI
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Date Visited: 2025-07-13
Font Date: ca. 1449-1450?
Font Century and Period/Style: 15th - 16th century[composite font], Late Gothic
Workshop/Group/Artisan: heraldic font
Church / Chapel Name: Cathedral Church of St. Patrick (C. of I.) [orig. from the medieval chancel]
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, wall-mounted, W wall
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Patrick
Church Notes: St. Patrick Church (C. of I.) became cathedral in 1955 -- see Jennifer McKenna's 'St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Trim' [https://trimandathboy.com/st-patricks-cathedral-trim/] [accessed 20 July 2025] for a history of the site
Church Address: San Loman's St, Townparks North, Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland -- Tel.: +353 46 943 6698
Site Location: Meath / An Mhí, Leinster, Republic of Ireland, Europe
Directions to Site: Trim is 15 km S of Navan, down the R161 via Bective, or about the same distance down the N51, then a local road via Dunderry to Trim.
Ecclesiastic Region: United Dioceses of Meath and Kildare [formerly Diocese of Meath]
Additional Comments: recycled font: formerly a piscina MUST USE -- have our own photos from July 2025 -- have permission for Pike's drawing
Font Notes:
Click to view
Described and illustrated in Roe (1968: [101]-105 and pl. XLI-XLII) as "the vessel which serves as a christening font in this church. Although it has been thus used for over a century, the vessel was not originally so intended but was a piscina associated with one of the altars of the medieval parish church." Roe (ibid.) informs that it is said to have been found among the debris of the medieval church which has stood in ruins since the 17th century, and was brought into the church ca. 1859. The piscina "was designed to stand almost free with its half-octagonal shaft backed flush with the wall and presumably supported on some form of stone base". Roe reports a drain on one side, and describes the ornamentation below the rim as a running frieze of odd beasts which she identifies as: a lively dragon with bat-like wings, a manticore, a mule-head crocodile and, then, a fox making off with a goose. On the shaft of the object angels hold shields which bear coats of arms in relief; three are identified by Roe as follows: 1) the Butler's, 2) the Royal Arms of England and 3) the Royal Arms "impaling those of De Burgo and De Mortimer". Described and illustrated in Pike (1989: 45). Noted and illustrated in the Edwin Rae Collection (TRIARC. TCD) [http://hdl.handle/2262/39659] [accessed 8 June 2014]. BSI on-site visit notes: the former piscina is now disused; local information corroborates Roe's description of its origns [cf. supra], the mid-19th century rescue and its used for a time as baptismal font: rescued from the ruined chancel of the earlier building by Dean Richard Butler and installed ca. 1860 as a baptismal font.
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]. We are also grateful to the vicar for his assistance and information during our visit
COORDINATES
UTM: 29U 646268 5936218
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.554444, -6.791944
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 33′ 16″ N, 6° 47′ 31″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, type unknown
Number of Pieces: two
Font Shape: hexagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: hexagonal
Drainage System: Side drainage system
Drainage Notes: Roe suggests that the side drainage would drain away either through the masonry of the wall or along the back of the shaft (BIB25)
Rim Thickness: 7-10 cm**
Diameter (inside rim): 41 cm**
Diameter (includes rim): 59 cm**
Basin Depth: 10 cm**
Font Height (less Plinth): 106.68 cm* / 95 cm**
Font Height (with Plinth): 116.84 cm* / 115 cm**
Trapezoidal Basin: 55.88 cm* (width)
Notes on Measurements: * Pike (1989: 45) / ** BSI on-site
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, p. 45
- Roe, Helen M., Medieval Fonts of Meath, Longford, Ireland: Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, 1968, p. [100]-105 and pl. III, XLI, XLII