Faughart - Early Ecclesiastical Remains

Faughart - General View - Louthiana

This delightful perspective view shows the summit of Faughart Hill as viewed from the east c.1746. It appears as a header at the top of page 5 of Book I of Louthiana (Wright 1748). Clearly visible are St. Brigid's Well (foreground), the ruined medieval parish church (in background behind the well), St. Bridget's Stone and St. Bridget's Pillar (background centre) and the Anglo-Norman motte (background right).

Faughart - General View - Louthiana

This delightful perspective view shows the summit of Faughart Hill as viewed from the east c.1746. It appears as a header at the top of page 5 of Book I of Louthiana (Wright 1748). Clearly visible are St. Brigid's Well (foreground), the ruined medieval parish church (in background behind the well), St. Bridget's Stone and St. Bridget's Pillar (background centre) and the Anglo-Norman motte (background right).

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Faughart is one the most evocatively situated early monastic sites in Ireland. The array of monuments visible there seem to have changed little since they were first recorded in 1748. While none of the monuments are individually notable, the hilltop setting is, and the views from the graveyard are spectacular. Perched on one of the hills which ring Slieve Gullion, the site stands on an important geological, administrative and historic borderland with sweeping views over north Leinster, the hills of South Armagh, and Cooley.

Faughart Graveyard Arial View

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What is visible at Faughart is a semi-circular graveyard containing the ruins of a church, a holy well, the base of a high cross and some penitential stations. When viewed collectively, these monuments are a fine example of the type of remains found on early monastic settlements in Ireland. As such, Fuaghart is directly comparable with places such as Monasterboice, Clonmacnoise and Glendalough.

Faughart Remains in Churchyard

In this plate Wright (1748, Bk. III, Plate XX) provides detailed drawings of two of the most enigmatic features of Faughart graveyard: St. Bridget's Stone (figs. 1-2) and St. Bridget's Pillar (figs. 3-4). These survive very much unchanged since the 1740s. In their present guise, they appear to be penitential stations associated with the saint's pattern day but the pillar is likely to have been the base of a high cross.

Faughart Remains in Churchyard

In this plate Wright (1748, Bk. III, Plate XX) provides detailed drawings of two of the most enigmatic features of Faughart graveyard: St. Bridget's Stone (figs. 1-2) and St. Bridget's Pillar (figs. 3-4). These survive very much unchanged since the 1740s. In their present guise, they appear to be penitential stations associated with the saint's pattern day but the pillar is likely to have been the base of a high cross.

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On the basis of archaeological, topographical and documentary evidence, a minimum total of 14 pre-Norman ecclesiastical settlements can be identified in Louth. Though they have come down to us in varying degrees of preservation, these remains are characterised by a number of recurrent features, including the dedication of the site to an early saint and the proximity of a townland boundary and an associated graveyard. The most diagnostic features of early monastic settlements are high crosses, round towers, early stone oratories as well as early ecclesiastical enclosures. Bullaun stones, cross-slabs and pillars, saint's beds, holy wells and house foundations are also frequently associated (for further details, see Hughes and Hamlin 1997). A number of recurrent, though much later, features also occur, principally leachtaí (stone-built tables often surmounted by a cross slab) and penitential stations. These can take a variety of forms, such as the circular feature at Faughart recorded by Wright as 'St. Bridget's Stone' (his Figs. 1 and 2).