Labbamolaga Church

Labbamolaga Church is a medieval church and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland.[1]

Labbamolaga Church
Leaba Molaga
Labbamolaga Church
52.310764°N 8.347678°W / 52.310764; -8.347678
LocationLabbamolaga Middle, Mitchelstown, County Cork
CountryIreland
DenominationPre-Reformation Catholic
History
DedicationSt. Molaga
Relics heldSt. Molaga
Architecture
Functional statusruined
StyleCeltic Christian
Closedby 16th century
Specifications
Length11.8 m (39 ft)
Width7.2 m (24 ft)
Number of floors1
Floor area85 m2 (910 sq ft)
Materialsstone, mortar
Administration
DioceseCloyne
Designations
Official nameLabbamolaga Church & Grave slabs
Reference no.18

Location

Labbamolaga Church is located 7.3 km (4.5 mi) northwest of Mitchelstown, on the east bank of the Monaheancree Stream.[2]

History

Adjacent are four megalithic standing stones, erected during the Bronze Age and perhaps part of a stone circle. (Local lore claims that they were four thieves who stole the chalice and relics and were turned to stone as punishment!)[3] In the 7th century AD Saint Molaga founded a church and monastery here; he also gives his name to Timoleague and is traditionally held to have introduced beekeeping to Ireland. In 1897, William Copeland Borlase was the first to claim that Molaga is most likely a Christianisation of the Celtic god Lugh, the same being true of saints Molua and Lachtene.[4]

The oratory, built c. AD 900, was built as a tomb shrine to the founder. A limestone slab with carved volute marks Leaba Molaige – Molaga's Bed. It is called in the Book of Lismore Eidhnen Molaige – "Molaige's ivy-covered church."[5] Local people used to touch St. Molaga's tombstone to cure rheumatism.

The church was ruined by the 16th century.

Description

Church

Oblique view
Doorway

The church is a large rectangular Romanesque building.

Oratory

The oratory is rectangular (6.33 × 4.45 m) with antae. The west door is formed by three large stones which may have been taken from the nearby megaliths, signifying Christian replacement of the old gods.[6][3]

Cross Slab

A cross slab in the graveyard bears a Celtic cross in low relief on the west face and a Latin cross on the east face.[7]

Cursing-stones

Several bullauns are located under a slab and were known as clocha mealachta (stones of rebuke).[8]

References

  1. Monk, Michael A.; Sheehan, John (12 November 1998). Early Medieval Munster: Archaeology, History and Society. Cork University Press. ISBN 9781859181072 via Google Books.
  2. Ó'Carragáin, Tomás (12 November 2017). Churches in Early Medieval Ireland: Architecture, Ritual and Memory. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300154443 via Google Books.
  3. "Labbamolaga - Roaringwater Journal". roaringwaterjournal.com.
  4. "Labbamolaga - Voices from the Dawn". www.voicesfromthedawn.com.
  5. "Labbamolaga Cemetery in Mitchelstown, County Cork - Find A Grave Cemetery". www.findagrave.com.
  6. "Labbamolaga graveyard, Labbamolaga, Cork, Ireland - The on-line graves and graveyards finder". historicgraves.com.
  7. http://www.megalithicireland.com/Labbamolaga%20Church,%20Cork.html
  8. "Labbamolaga". www.irishmegaliths.org.uk.
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