Gainestown

Image copyright © Roe, 1968

PERMISSION NOT AVAILABLE -- IMAGE NOT FOR PUBLIC USE

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view of basin

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Roe, 1968

Image Source: Roe (1968: pl. XLIII)

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

INFORMATION

FontID: 09233GAI
Church/Chapel: Parish Church (R.C.) [originally from the ruined church at Lynn]
Country Name: Republic of Ireland
Location: Westmeath / Iarmhí, Leinster
Directions to Site: Gainestown is located on the R400, about 6 km S of Mullingar (dir. Rochfortbridge)
Font Location in Church: Reported ca. 1968 in the porch of the Roman Catholic of Gainestown, serving as holy-water stoup
Century and Period: 12th - 16th century, Medieval
Described in Cogan (1992 c1862, vol. II: 452) as "a fine font". Described and illustrated in Roe (1968: 118-119 and pl. 43) as a medieval baptismal font, "a most remarkable creation and one which may well be unique". Roe's description probably refers to the fact that, unlike most medieval basins, this one, which is square and monolithic, includes not only the narrower underbowl -which tapers in through a short rounded chamfer- but also a much narrower lower end, akin to the top of a pedestal base onto [into?] which it would probably fit. With the exception of the small rounded [or concave, perhaps more appropriately] chamfer of the underbowl side, the sides are practically vertical. The inner well of the basin is reported as "flat-bottomed without a drain" in Roe (ibid.), and the former font being from Lynn being used as holy-water stoup in the porch of the Roman Catholic church of Gainestown ca. 1968.

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: square (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: square
Rim Thickness: 4.9 cm
Diameter (inside rim): 56.5 cm
Basin Depth: 19 cm
Basin Upper Panel Dimensions: 29.8 cm (heigh) x 64.9 cm (wide)
Basin Lower Panel Dimensions: 15.2 cm (heigh) x 55.3 cm (wide)*
Trapezoidal Basin: 64.9 x 64.9 cm**
Notes on Measurements: Roe (1968: 119) *[Roe gives 27.3 cm. high by 42 cm wide as the measurements for the lowest stage or panels] **[since Roe gives only one measurement for the width, we assume that the bowl is a perfect square]

REFERENCES

Cogan, Anthony, The Diocese of Meath: Ancient and Modern, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1992 (c1862)
Roe, Helen M., Medieval Fonts of Meath, Longford, Ireland: Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, 1968