St Flannan's Oratory

Situated c. 20m N of St Flannan’s cathedral (CL045-033006-) and c. 1.5m below the present ground level of the churchyard. A stone-roofed Romanesque oratory built c. AD 1100 under the patronage of king Muirchertach Ua Briain (1086-1119) (Gem 2006, 74). Several possible functions have been suggested such as a shrine for important relics (taking the fireproof nature of the stone roof into consideration), a possible place for royal burial or a subsidiary church to the main cathedral (ibid. 90-94). The oratory comprises a rectangular barrel-vaulted nave (int. dims. c. 8.8m x 5.3m) to the E of which was a contemporary chancel, which is now missing. The walls are of roughly rectangular blocks of mortared yellow and brown sandstone set on a simple plinth (H 0.2m) with larger stones used for the quoins. The N and S walls have a pronounced batter. The stone roof is neatly built and has been repaired (19th-century drawings show the roof disrupted by plant growth). A chamber with a pointed barrel vault above the nave carries the apex of the stone roof. The chancel also had a masonry vault and an outer masonry roof with a chamber in between. The chancel arch (Wth 2m; H 3m) is plain with a projecting chamfered abacus under the arch. The nave was lit by only two plain narrow lights with inclined jambs and stepped sills, one in each side wall towards the E end. The heads of the windows are formed of two slabs leaned together. The upper chamber is lit by a window in each gable wall of neat ashlar construction. The E gable window has inclined jambs with its head formed of two inclined slabs while the W window is round-headed. The W doorway (Wth 1m; H 2.5m) is highly decorative, well constructed and is integral to the original building. Externally the doorway is of three orders. The inner order is plain; the middle order is supported by short round columns standing on modern bases and has worn capitals which are decorated with animal and foliate carvings. The arch has a round roll moulding with a double hollow behind. The outer order has plain jambs. The arch is composed of two roll mouldings with a hollow moulding between. Externally there is a roll hood-moulding with very worn traces of dentil decoration. A cross-slab (CL045-033004-) lies in the interior. St Flannan’s Oratory is a National Monument in State care, no. 6. (Bradley et al. 1988; Gem 2006, 74-105)