Friarstown nr. Tallaght

Described in Handcock (1899) as an ancient baptismal font: "Close to the entrance lies an ancient font, of horse-shoe shape, carved out of a granite boulder. It is about three feet in breadth, by four feet in length, and 10 inches deep. Part of the back rim is broken. It is of very rude construction, and is somewhat like the old fonts at Tallaght and Clondalkin. Many years ago, a gentleman residing in the neighbourhood intended to remove this font to his place, for a trough. Having with difficulty persuaded some of his men to undertake the work, they put a chain round the font, and yoked two horses to it. The chain first broke, next the swingbar, and finally one of the horses fell and broke his leg, which put an end to the project. The country people said that the ill-luck was deserved, for this attempt at sacrilege, as they considered it." [source: Ken Finlay's web page at http://indigo.ie/~kfinlay/Handcock/tallaght9.htm] [broken link]