Ratass Church
Church in County Kerry, Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ráth Teas Church (officially Ratass Church) is a medieval church with ogham stone inscriptions in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is a National Monument.[3][4]
| Ráth Teas Church | |
|---|---|
Teampall Ráth Teas | |
Ratass Church | |
  Ráth Teas Church | |
| 52.267007°N 9.681814°W | |
| Location | Quill Street, Tralee, County Kerry |
| Country | Ireland |
| Denomination | Catholic (pre-Reformation) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Ruined |
| Style | Romanesque |
| Years built | 10th century AD |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Width | 7.5 m (25 ft) |
| Number of floors | 1 |
| Floor area | 120 m2 (1,300 sq ft) |
| Materials | Sandstone, limestone, mortar[1] |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Ardfert and Aghadoe |
| Official name | Ratass Church & Ogham Stone[2] |
| Reference no. | 57 |
Location
History
It is believed that a ringfort or embanked enclosure was built here first (Rath Mhaighe Teas, "fort of the southern plain").[6] Later, a sandstone church was erected in the 10th century. It served as the episcopal seat of a diocese in Kerry from 1111 to 1117, when the seat was moved to Ardfert.[7] The west gable and part of the nave walls belong to this earlier construction; the rest of the church is later.[8]
Ogham Stone
The Ogham Stone is from much earlier. Based on its Primitive Irish grammar, the inscription is estimated to be from around AD 550–600.[9]
The stone is of fine purple sandstone (145 × 34 × 20 cm), with the inscription "[A]NM SILLANN MAQ VATTILLOGG" ("name of Sílán son of Fáithloga").[10] It was discovered in 1975 during a cleanup. The walls of a 19th-century burial vault had been built almost flush with it.[11]