Ballybacon / Baile Uí Bhéacáin

Noted in Cahill's and Twohig's 1976 'Baptismal font from Ballybacon Old Church, Co Tipperary article', in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society vol. 81 (91-93) with date in the mid to late-13th century. 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. Listed and illustrated in the entry for this church in the CRSBI [https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=9489] [accessed 25 July 2025]: "The 12thc. font, formerly in the ruined 13thc. church at Ballybacon, was removed in 1975 to this new Roman Catholic parish church [...] The font has a rectangular basin, decorated in low relief on four faces with circular and floral motifs. The interior of the basin ia also rectangular, with a flat bottom and central drain hole. In fine-grained granite. Front face: two six-petalled flowers, one on either side of two central triangles, placed apex to apex. Four small discs or pellets are arranged between the outer petals of each flower and at the upper corners. Side and rear faces: all similar in design, three large radiating leaves on each side of two central triangles, placed apex to apex. the underside of the font has a large circular depression 0.32 m in diameter, suggesting that it rested on a single columnar base [...] In England square and rectangular fonts were most common in the 11thc. and early 12thc. In Ireland this form is unusual, and is more usually found with a polypod as opposed to single column support. The nature of the decoration makes it quite difficult to date the font with any accuracy. Floral motifs formed by intersecting arcs are found on the Ahenny and Kilamery Crosses located nearby on the Kilkenny-Tipperary border and these are traditionally dated between the 8thc. and 10thc., but such motifs also occur occasionally on late-medieval sculpture. Pike (1979, 9) suggests that the font is 'pre-conquest' while Cahill and Twohig (1976) date it to the mid-to late- 13thc."
A 3-D model of the basin of this font made by Archaeological Survey of Ireland may be seen in Sketchfab [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/ballybacon-baptismal-font-ts088-018004-c6a77c9c65bc44858b00859355f25d7d] [accessed 25 July 2025]; its long caption make reference to previous sources: "The 12th-century decorated baptismal font from the 13th-century parish church ruins (TS088-018002-) of Ballybacon was removed in 1975 and brought to nearby Ballybacon R.C. church. The granite rectangular-shaped font decorated on all four faces within a roll-moulded frame & a central drainage hole was described in The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain & Ireland as decorated on the front face with; ‘two six-petalled flowers, one on either side of two central triangles, placed apex to apex. Four small discs or pellets are arranged between the outer petals of each flower and at the upper corners. The underside of the font has a large circular depression 0.32m in diameter, suggesting that it rested on a single columnar base. The nature of the decoration makes it quite difficult to date the font with any accuracy. Pike (1979, 9) suggests that the font is ‘pre-conquest’ while Cahill and Twohig (1976) date it to the mid-to late- 13th century’."