Aghaboe / Achadh Bhó

A baptismal font located outside, near the church, by the ruins of the old abbey is noted by the Revd. T.J. Clohosey in the Old Kilkenny Review [https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/OKR-1960-16-T-J-Clohosey-St-Canice-of-Aghaboe-and-Kilkenny.pdf] [accessed 5 November 2-23]: "The ancient Baptismal Font lies in a plot before the church door; it is octagonal and of cut stone but no ornament; it is slightly fractured." "The ancient baptismal font lies in the centre of a green plot before the church door; it is octagonal, and of cut stone, but it devoid of ornament; it is slightly fractured at the rim; its internal diameter at top is 22 in., at bottom 12 1/2 in.; the depth is 8 in." [source: "Parish of Aghaboe" [no author's name given], in www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/laois/community/parishhistories/aghaboe_parish.htm]. Noted and illustrated in The Standing Stone [http://www.thestandingstone.ie/2009/08/aghaboe-abbey-co-laois.html] [accessed 5 November 2023]. Noted and illustrated with a 3d sketch in Sketchfab, Inc. [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/aghaboe-abbey-font-la022-019004-2d572a996f9b4a47b34aab1ae4d4cbca] and [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/aghaboe-font-81fcfeb1100b48dbadd12502c82f7a71] [accessed 5 November 2023]: "Medieval octagonal-shaped baptismal font lying on the surface of the graveyard to the west of the Church of Ireland parish church which is built on the site of the thirteenth century Augustinian foundation (LA022-019002-). The font and the graveyard were known in medieval times as the insignia of the parochial church. This stone font was located inside the church and used for the sacrament of baptism."
A 3-D model of the font by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland may be seen in Sketchfab [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/aghaboe-abbey-font-la022-019004-2d572a996f9b4a47b34aab1ae4d4cbca] [accessed 26 July 2025]; its caption reads: "A monastery was founded at Aghaboe (Achadh Bhó / Field of the cows), Co. Laois in the sixth century by St Cainnech (Canice/Kenny). The monastery was plundered and burnt a number of times, and in 1234 the church was rebuilt as an Augustinian priory (LA022-019002-). Medieval octagonal-shaped baptismal font lying on the surface of the graveyard to the west of the Church of Ireland parish church which is built on the site of the thirteenth century Augustinian foundation (LA022-019002-) [...] For more information, visit: https://maps.archaeology.ie/HistoricEnvironment/?SMRS=LA022-019004- "