Armagh

The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, proceedings of the Society published in vol. 41 (1911), in the section on the Cathedral of St. Patrick at Armagh, informs that: "The present baptismal font, standing near the west door, is a copy of the old one, which the architect who was restoring the Cathedral carried to England". [NB: it is not clear which restoration is this referring to; the latest at the time of the writing would have been the one in 1840, a major one that restored the whole building; previously, however this cathedral had been totally rebuilt in 1766, burned in 1641, burned in 1566 -reportedly because chieftain Shane O'Neill disliked the sermon by Primate Creagh- and, "the Cathedral had been burned and laid desolate on nine occasions, between the years 670 and 1642." No indication is given as to the time of the removal of the original font, perhaps at the time of the latest restoration in 1840, nor is the font either dated or described [all notes from the above-cited source, pp. 297-298]]. An unconfirmed source [http://armagh.goireland.com] informs that the current font is a copy of the original font in the cathedral, "a curiously carved octagonal font found 7 feet underground near the west door of the cathedral in 1805". A view of the current font in its newly-tiled baptistry can be found at www.tiles.org.uk/galleries/project1, where it shows as an octagonal bsin mounted on a clustered-column base. The sides of the basin are deeply recessed and decorated, as are the chamfered underbowl, the buttresses at the angles, etc.