Ballybacon

Described and illustrated in Pike (1989: 9) as possibly the earliest font in Ireland with decoration that "appears to be Pre-Conquest". The font is roughly rectangular inside and out, with the exterior sides that have sunk panels containing six-leave motifs and, on one side, smaller circular discs. The font is made of fine-grained granite and has a central hole in the basin as drain. The underbowl shows a depression about 33 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm in depth which may be evidence of a columnar base. Pike (ibid.) reports the font as no longer in use [ca. 1989], and remarks on its "resemblance to the Killamery Cross of the Ahenny Group on the Kilkenny-Tipperary border". Pike (ibid.) further informs that the font was moved in 1975 "from the nearby ruins of Ballybacon Medieval Roman Catholic Church and placed in the new Church" by the parishioners.