Saggart / Newtown / Tasagart / Teach Sagard
INFORMATION
Font ID: 09304SAG
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: Medieval
Church / Chapel Name: Old Church [in ruins]
Font Location in Church: Reported ca. 1837 in the grounds corresponding to the graveyard
Church Patron Saint(s): St. Mo-sacra, 7thC abbot [aka Moacra, Mohsaccra, Mo-sacer, Mo-sacra, Mothacra, Sacer]
Church Notes: 7thC monastery outside the village; later a nunnery until ravaged by Vikings; in 1615, the church was reported as being in good repair but fifteen years later the church is stated to have fallen down -- current church was built in 1847.
Church Address: Garden Ln, Saggart, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Site Location: Dublin, Leinster, Republic of Ireland, Europe
Directions to Site: Saggart is located between the L2005 (W) and the L2008 (E), S of the N7, N of the N-81, about 15 km SW of Dublin city centre
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of Dublin
Historical Region: Barony of Newcastle
Additional Comments: disused font / re-cycled font (possibly as a farm or garden trough)
Font Notes:
Click to view
Ball (1902-1920, vol. 3, chapter 8) wrote about two chapels within the parish of Saggart: "One of these was on the lands of Newtown, of which remains, including a font, were found in 1837 by Mr. Eugene O'Curry. Its site is marked on the ordnance map as a graveyard." Ball (ibid.) refers also to a nearby font at Rathccole [cf. Index entry], "now to be seen". [NB: a transcription of Ball's text is available at K. Finlay's site http://indigo.ie/~kfinaly/ball1-6/Ball3/ball3.8.htm]. The old church (C. of I.) of Saggart was reported in ruins in The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland of 1868.
A 3-D model of a baptismal font from Saggart by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland may be seen in Sketchfab [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/saggart-font-du021-034016-1ba8c0205e9546728b7356cbeb8526e2] [accessed 26 July 2025]; its caption reads: "Medieval baptismal font of Saggart (Teach Sagard) parish church (DU021-034002-) in the barony of Newcastle, Co. Dublin, dedicated to St. Mosacra. The granite font with drainage hole in the side of the basin was removed from Saggart graveyard (DU021-034003-) to the nearby parochial house for safe keeping [...] For more information, visit: https://maps.archaeology.ie/HistoricEnvironment/?SMRS=DU021-034016-". The basin shown in this source is plain and almost cylindrical in shape but may have been polygonal originally, as the sides are very eroded; there is no drain hole in the bottom of the basin well but there is a hole on the side, which suggests it was used as a garden or farm trough [NB: we are unable to confirm whether this object is the same as the one reported in 1837 by Mr. Eugene O'Curry [cf. supra]
A 3-D model of a baptismal font from Saggart by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland may be seen in Sketchfab [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/saggart-font-du021-034016-1ba8c0205e9546728b7356cbeb8526e2] [accessed 26 July 2025]; its caption reads: "Medieval baptismal font of Saggart (Teach Sagard) parish church (DU021-034002-) in the barony of Newcastle, Co. Dublin, dedicated to St. Mosacra. The granite font with drainage hole in the side of the basin was removed from Saggart graveyard (DU021-034003-) to the nearby parochial house for safe keeping [...] For more information, visit: https://maps.archaeology.ie/HistoricEnvironment/?SMRS=DU021-034016-". The basin shown in this source is plain and almost cylindrical in shape but may have been polygonal originally, as the sides are very eroded; there is no drain hole in the bottom of the basin well but there is a hole on the side, which suggests it was used as a garden or farm trough [NB: we are unable to confirm whether this object is the same as the one reported in 1837 by Mr. Eugene O'Curry [cf. supra]
COORDINATES
UTM: 29U 670397 5906632
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 53.28149, -6.444055
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 53° 16′ 53.36″ N, 6° 26′ 38.6″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone
Font Shape: round
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
REFERENCES
- Ball, Francis Elrington, A History of County Dublin: the People, Parishes and Antiquities from the Earliest Times to the Close of the 16th Century, Dublin: A. Thom, 1902-1920, vol. 3, chapter 8: [??]