Labbamolaga Church
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| Labbamolaga Church | |
|---|---|
Leaba Molaga | |
 | |
  Labbamolaga Church | |
| 52°18′39″N 8°20′52″W / 52.310764°N 8.347678°W | |
| Location | Labbamolaga Middle, Mitchelstown, County Cork |
| Country | Ireland |
| Denomination | Pre-Reformation Catholic |
| History | |
| Dedication | St. Molaga |
| Relics held | St. Molaga |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | ruined |
| Style | Celtic Christian |
| Closed | by 16th century |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 11.8 m (39 ft) |
| Width | 7.2 m (24 ft) |
| Number of floors | 1 |
| Floor area | 85 m2 (910 sq ft) |
| Materials | stone, mortar |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Cloyne |
| Official name | Labbamolaga |
| Reference no. | 18[1] |
Labbamolaga Church is a medieval church and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland.[2]
Labbamolaga Church is located 7.3 km (4.5 mi) northwest of Mitchelstown, on the east bank of the Monaheancree Stream.[3]
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!)[4] 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.[5]
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."[6] Local people used to touch St. Molaga's tombstone to cure rheumatism.[citation needed]
The church was ruined by the 16th century.[citation needed]
