Graigue / Graiguenamanagh

In a paper presented to the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, a summary of which appears in its Journal (1911, vol. 41: 203), P. O'Leary, of Graigue, Co. Carlow, reported: "An ancient baptismal font, formerly at Ullard, was brought into Graigue in the year 1814, where it may be seen as 'improved' [in italics in the original] by some vandal of a stonecutter. It is of octagon shape, and had carvings on the panels". [NB: the report does not give information on what the 'improvement' of the font left of the carvings]. The much altered font is shown in an 1 October 2024 digital photograph by A.-K.D. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baptismal_font_from_Ullard.jpg] [accessed 23 July 2025] standing outside Duiske Abbey in a corner; it has a metal cover on it, and appears otherwise much altered and totally devoid of decoration. The image is captioned: "Baptismal font outside Duiske Abbey transferred here from Ullard in 1814. The top of the rim bears an inscription which partly reads "GRAIGE 1814". Apparently, it was once more decorated, but the decoration was hewn off in an effort to modernise the design." The abbey church has its own baptismal font inside, a modern one by all appearances: an octagonal basin of redish veined marble with pairs of round-headed arches on each panel; the inner well of the basin is partitioned into two halves; the underbowl appears to have cherubs on it; the base consists of five clustered columns with moulded bases; on a square plinth, also modern. A photograph of this font taken 27 August 2023 by Smirkybec may be seen at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duiske_Abbey_10.jpg [accessed 23 July 2025]. For other photographs of the church interior and exterior see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Duiske_Abbey [accessed 23 July 2025]
A 3-D model of this font made by b-unicycling may be ssen in Sketchfab [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/ullard-baptismal-font-b08ed477da4c4b01b70bd464ee90e2dd] [accessed 23 July 2025] captioned: "This baptismal font was moved from Ullard Church ruin to Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamanagh in 1814, as attested by P. O’Leary in his 1911 booklet about Ullard. There is also an engraving in the top of the rim reading “GRAIGUE 1814” (and probably more which I didn’t take the time to decipher). It was once much more decorated on the eight faces (or at least some of them), but after moving it to Graiguenamanagh, it was “cleaned up”. The shaft is modern and probably not hollow, otherwise the water would not be able to collect in it."