{{more footnotes|date=September 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use Irish English|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox monastery | name = Grangefertagh | native_name = Gráinseach na Fearta<br/>Fearta-Caerach | native_name_lang = ga | image = File:Grangefertagh_Round_Tower_April_2021.jpg | alt = | caption = Round tower | full = | other_names = Fertagh | order = Canons Regular of Saint Augustine | established = early 6th century | disestablished = 1536 | mother = | dedication = | diocese = Ossory | churches = | founder = Ciarán of Saigir | abbot = | prior = | archbishop = | bishop = | archdeacon = | people = | status = | functional_status = In ruins | heritage_designation = | embedded = {{Infobox designation list|embed=yes | designation1 = National Monument of Ireland | designation1_number = 74 | designation1_offname = Grangefertagh Round Tower and Church }} | designated_date = | architect = | style = Celtic monastic | groundbreaking = | completed_date = | construction_cost = | location = Grangefertagh, Johnstown,<br/> County Kilkenny, Ireland | map_type = Ireland | coord = {{coord|52.778459|N|7.544599|W|region:IE|display=inline,title}} | oscoor = | remains = | public_access = yes | website = | other_info = }}
'''Grangefertagh''' is a former abbey located in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is today a National Monument.
==Location==
Grangefertagh is located about {{Convert|3.3|km|abbr=on}} north of Johnstown, County Kilkenny, near a crossing-point on the River Goul.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pGLstPf5iJMC|title=Celtic Resource Book|first=Martin|last=Wallace|date=1 April 2009|publisher=Church House Publishing|isbn=9780715141861|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==History==
Grangefertagh was founded in the sixth century AD by Saint Ciarán of Saigir, and known as Fearta-Cáerach ("Sheep's Tomb"). In 861 Cerball mac Dúnlainge killed a host of Vikings at Fertagh, taking forty heads. A round tower was later built. In 1156 the high king Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn burned the tower with the lector inside.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrQ7AwAAQBAJ|title=Celtic Saints of Ireland|first=Elizabeth|last=Rees|date=1 May 2013|publisher=History Press|isbn=9780752492919|via=Google Books}}</ref>
The monastery was reopened by the de Blancheville family for the Canons Regular of St Augustine in the early 13th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Archdall |first=M | year=1786 |title= Monasticon Hibernicum: Or, an history of the Abbies, Priories, and other Religious Houses in Ireland |publisher=Printed for Luke White |location=Dublin}}</ref> In 1421 it was so destroyed and desolated that its religious could not 'remain therein, but must wander about and beg their daily bread' <ref>{{cite book|last=Twemlow |first=William |year=1906 |title= Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland 1417-1431, p.181 |volume=7 |publisher= His Majesty’s Printing Office |location=London}}</ref> but in 1455 it was rebuilt by Thady Megirid/Magriyd, a canon of Inchmacnerin.<ref>{{cite book|last=Twemlow |first=William |year=1906 |title= Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland 1417-1431 |volume=7 |publisher= His Majesty’s Printing Office |location=London}}</ref> The monastery was dissolved in 1541<ref>{{cite book|last=White |first=N |year=1943 |title= Extents of Irish monastic possessions, 1540-1541 | publisher= Manuscripts Commission |location=Dublin}}</ref> but the church of was in use until 1780 and now forms part of a Gaelic handball alley.
==Buildings==
===Round tower=== The tower is {{Convert|31|m|abbr=on}} tall. It has nine windows: six angle-headed and three lintelled. Four of the angle-headed windows are on the top storey facing the four cardinal directions. The tower is complete to the cornice but only part of the cap remains.
The doorway faces northeast and is {{Convert|3.3|m|abbr=on}} above the ground. Sometime before 1800, a local farmer removed some stones from the original doorcase because he believed that they had magical fire-resistant properties. The doorway as it appears now is a later repair job.
thumb
===Church=== thumb thumb There is an Augustinian monastery church (13th century) west of the tower. A side chapel contains a 16th century<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rae |first1=Edwin |date=1971 |title=Irish Sepulchral Monuments of the Later Middle Ages. Part II the O'Tunney Atelier |journal=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland |volume= 101 |pages= 1–39}}</ref> tomb said by Carrigan<ref>{{cite book|last=Carrigan |first=William |author-link=William Carrigan |year=1905 |title=The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory |volume=2 |publisher=Sealy, Bryers & Walker |location=Dublin}}</ref> to be that of Seán Mac Giolla Phádraig, King of Osraige. The tomb has effigies of a man in armour and a woman, said to be Seán’s wife Nóirín Ní Mórdha.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturalheritageireland.ie/index.php/heritage-sites-and-centres/90-grangefertagh-abbey-near-johnstown-co-kilkenny|title=Grangefertagh Abbey, near Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny|last=CHI}}</ref> Carrigan claimed other members of the Mac Giolla Phádraig dynasty also rest there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carrigan |first=William |author-link=William Carrigan |year=1905 |title=The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory |volume=2 |publisher=Sealy, Bryers & Walker |location=Dublin}}</ref> The chest is decorated with tracery and lierne vaulting in relief.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/kilkenny/fertagh/fertagh.html|title=Grangefertagh Round Tower & Church}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travelmania-ireland.com/place.php?id=395|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911122314/http://www.travelmania-ireland.com/place.php?id=395|url-status=usurped|archive-date=11 September 2016|title=Travelmania Ireland - Fertagh / Grangefertagh Round Tower and Church Ruins, County Kilkenny}}</ref> A 2020 article<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Mike |date=2020 |title= Mac Giolla Phádraig Osraí 1384-1534 AD Part II. |journal= The Journal of the Fitzpatrick Clan Society |volume= 1 |pages= 40–71|doi= 10.48151/fitzpatrickclansociety00320 |doi-access= free }}</ref> reviews various unusual aspects of the tomb that scholars, including Carrigan,<ref>{{cite book|last=Carrigan |first=William |author-link=William Carrigan |year=1905 |title=The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory |volume=2, p.295 |publisher=Sealy, Bryers & Walker |location=Dublin}}</ref> have found make it an exception compared with other similar tombs built by Ormond<ref>{{cite book|last=Hunt |first=John |year=1974 |title= Irish Medieval figure sculpture 1200-1600: A study of Irish tombs with notes on costume and armour |publisher= Irish University Press |location=Dublin}}</ref> sculptors.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.megalithicireland.com/Grangefertagh%20Round%20Tower,%20Kilkenny.html Megalithic Ireland page on Grangefertagh] *[https://www.fitzpatrickclan.org/ The Fitzpatrick Clan Society] *[https://fitzpatricksociety.com/ The Fitzpatrick – Mac Giolla Phádraig Clan Society]
Category:Augustinian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Category:Archaeological sites in County Kilkenny Category:National monuments in County Kilkenny Category:Religion in County Kilkenny Category:Monasteries dissolved under the Irish Reformation Category:FitzPatrick dynasty