Knockagarraun

Area

2,882 m² (0.29 ha, 0.71 acres)

Buildings

3 buildings touch it. Their footprint covers 161 m².

Zoning

No zone of a development plan covers it in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply.

Townland

Knockagarraun

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 9 recorded monuments.

• MA070-067001 Religious house - Dominican friars
  Description

  Strade Dominican friary is a National Monument in state ownership (no. 172). It is located in the parish of Templemore, in the N end of Strade townland, a few kilometres SE of Lough Cullin in central Co. Mayo. A friary for the Franciscan Order was established in Strade in the early to mid-1200’s -the exact date is unknown- by Jordan de Exeter, Lord of Athlethan. He also built a castle (MA061-145---- ) and established the borough of Athlethan (now Ballylahan townland), c. 2.5km NW of the friary (Knox 1903, 406). The Franciscans did not, however, remain long at Strade. In 1253, the friary was transferred to Dominican friars, either by Jordan or by his son, Stephen fitz Jordan de Exeter. This is said to have been done at the request of Stephen’s wife, Basilia, daughter of Myler de Bermingham, who was patron of the Dominicans at Athenry. Basilia is said to have invited her father to Strade for a feast at which she declared she would neither eat nor drink until her husband agreed to expel the Franciscans from Strade in favour of the Dominicans (Coleman 1912, 204-5). Papal permission was subsequently sought and received for the transfer, aided by the incentive of a sizable donation. The Dominican priory was dedicated to the Holy Cross and, according to the 16th-century Register of the Priory of Athenry, was a daughter house of Sligo Dominican priory (SL014-068008-) (Swords 1998, 21). Soon after they took possession, the Dominican suffered a misfortune: The Annals of Loch Cé record that in the year 1254 ‘The monastery of the Friars Preachers at Ath-lethan in Luighne, was all burned.’ (Hennessy 1871, 405). A papal indulgence granted in 1434 to encouraging donations from benefactors may have prompted a phase of expansion and remodelling which took place in the 15th-century (Gwynne and Hadcock 1970, 230). Following the Dissolution of monasteries, the friary and two quarters of land were granted in 1575 by Queen Elizabeth I to James Garvey for 21 years, and the property changed hands a number of times in subsequent years (Swords 1998, 21). In 1580, a meeting took place in the friary during which Sir Nicholas Malby, President of Connacht, accepted Sir Richard ‘an Iarainn’ de Burgh as lord of the MacWilliam Íochtair, in return for his loyalty. The friars managed to stay on at Strade; in 1756 there were seven friars living there, in 1767 four, and the last friar recorded in Strade died c. 1856-60 (Coleman 1902, 95). Only the church survives, comprising a nave and chancel, with remnants of a central bell tower, and a lateral aisle and a chapel/transept on the N side of the nave; domestic buildings originally extended to the S of the church, but only fragmentary walls remain. A graveyard (MA070-067004-) extends to S and E of the friary, with a modern extension to N. A 19th-century chapel, attached to the SW end of the friary church, now serves as a museum dedicated to the 19th-century Land League campaigner, Michael Davitt (d. 1906), who was born in Strade and is buried there. The friary buildings are of roughly coursed limestone masonry, with some architectural details in red sandstone. Two main phase of construction are evident: The church and the N aisle date from the 13th-century; the 15th-century saw expansion and remodelling, evidenced by the addition of the chapel/transept and the tower, and the replacement of the E window in the chancel. In recent centuries the interior of the church was used for burials, and interior ground level has risen; the original floor level was as much as 1m lower than its present-day level. Several graves of 18th- and 19th-century in date are evident throughout the church. The nave (c. 17m E–W; 6.70m N–S) is lit by a large window, partly collapsed, in the W gable and a row of four single and double lancet windows in the S wall. The eastern-most window in the S wall was partly blocked when the tower was built, but the central mullion and jamb of its E light are visible externally. The pointed, chamfered arch of a tomb niche is visible in the S wall, with remnants of a similar arch immediately to E; both are partly concealed by the rise in ground level. Also partly buried is a doorway at the E end of the S wall; this gave access to the cloister, and was integrated within the space of the tower. On the external face of the W gable, flanking the base of the window, are corbels with a string course above, suggesting that a lean-to roof was appended to the wall here, possibly associated with the preaching activities of the friars. Unusually, there is no evidence for a doorway in the W gable, where most friary churches had an entrance for the laity. At Strade the entrance appears to have been in the lateral aisle, its location marked now by a gap in the N wall. The lateral aisle (14.90m E–W; 3.88m N–S) was most likely originally separated from the nave by an arcade of arches; at the W end of the N wall of the nave, the impost of one arch survives, featuring roll mouldings consistent with a 13th-century date. Putlog holes in the W wall of the nave and aisle, where scaffolding used during construction was fitted, and building lifts (marking the amount a wall could be raised in one day) also suggest the nave and aisle belong to the same construction phase. The chapel or transept (9.15m N–S by 6m E–W) extends to N of the nave, immediately to E of the lateral aisle. It was probably added in the 15th-century, or possibly the 14th-century. It appears to pre-dates the tower, based on the similarities of the masonry fabric to that of the nave and chancel. A beautiful, elaborately carved double-light window, 15th-century in style, is intact in the E wall. It has cinquefoil round-headed lights under a pointed arch, with decorated tracery comprised of two sextfoils and two quatrefoils, cusped and arranged symmetrically. There are remnants of two altar recesses with pointed arches in the N wall. A modern burial vault now stands against the W wall of the transept. The tower, which was inserted between the nave and chancel in the 15th-century, does not survive, but its original extent (ext. 6.75m N–S; 4.45m E–W) can be traced in the disturbed fabric of the S wall of the church. Only the pointed chancel arch still stands. Built of regularly coursed, dressed limestone blocks, it has an internal chamfered rib which rests on moulded corbels with pointed stops, embellished below with intricate carvings of birds: a pelican, pecking its breast, at N and an eagle at S. In Christian tradition, the pelican, which was believed to feed its young with its own blood, is a metaphor of the Passion of Christ, the Eucharist and self-sacrifice, and is a common motif in Irish Gothic art. The eagle is used in Christian iconography to symbolised the Resurrection and baptism, based on an ancient belief that the eagle flew close to the sun to burn off old plumage and then plunged into water to renew itself; and the eagle’s ability to soar to great heights was seen as analogous to Christian efforts to aspire to greater heights of perfection and spiritual union with God. The eagle may also represent St John, one of the Four Evangelists (McDermott 2009, 98-9). The chancel (6.75 N–S; 14.95 E–W. Fig. 6) has a four-light window in the E gable, but all internal mullions and tracery are gone. It was inserted in the 15th-century, replacing the original 13th-century window, which was broader and perhaps consisted of a group of graded lancets. On the exterior wall face, two buttresses flank the window, a rather typical feature of 13th-century friary churches (similar examples occur at the Dominican friaries of Athenry (GA084-001014-) and Kilmallock (LI047-022018-)). Under the E window along the internal wall face, there are a series of six or seven corbels, which might have held statues. Beneath the window is one of the special features of the abbey, an elaborately carved 15th-century altar piece or reredos, a rare survival, designed to be displayed behind the altar. It is divide

• MA070-067003 Wall monument
  Description

  Located in the N wall of the chancel in the church of the Dominican priory (MA070-067001-) of Strade. This 15th-century canopy tomb/wall monument is one of the finest surviving examples of its type in Ireland. It features a pointed arch filled with gloriously flamboyant, flowing cusped tracery. The hood-moulding of the arch is decorated with eleven crockets on each side and at the apex, which is crowned by a cross-shaped finial, and it is framed by two chamfered pinnacles terminating into crocketted finials. At the base of the arch on the W side is a carving of a dog, a symbol of loyalty and faithfulness. The front of the mensa or tomb is comprised of two panels, each decorated with four figures carved within their own small ogee-headed canopy with pinnacles. In the left-hand panel, each ogee-headed canopy is separated by a slim pilaster. A broader pilaster separates this panel from the right-hand panel, where each canopy is supported by an angel. The eight figures are finely carved, with great attention to details such as hair and facial features, the folds of the clothing and the symbolic attributes each displays or carries. The four crowned figures on the W panel (from L) represent the three Magi, carrying their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh in ciborium-like containers, and Christ displaying the Five Wounds. The four figures on the right-hand panel (from L) include a kneeling man, a bishop wearing a mitre, one hand raised in blessing and the other carrying a cross-shaped crozier, St Peter carrying a book and the keys of Heaven, and Saint Paul carrying a book and a sword. A closer look at the kneeling man shows that he is bearded, with a luxuriant moustache, and dressed in a friar’s habit, his raised arms, showing buttoned sleeves, are drawing back the cowl or hood –perhaps in anticipation of a blessing from the adjacent bishop towards whom he is facing (Leask 1960, 168). There is a weaver’s shuttle dangling from his belt, which may symbolise the passage of time or allude to his association with weaving or the wool trade (McDermott 2009, 100-05). This figure is probably a depiction of the deceased donor of the tomb, who was probably a benefactor of the abbey during his lifetime. It was not uncommon in the medieval period for patrons of abbeys to take the habit in their later years to atone for their sins and prepare for death. A memorial to Anne Deane, cousin of John Dillon, MP and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, was inserted into the back of the tomb recess in the 19th-century. Attached image MA07-067003-_01 Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye and Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 23 June 2020

• MA070-067004 Graveslab
  Description

  Located in Strade Dominican friary (MA070-067001-), one of a group of five (see also MA070-067007- to MA070-067010-) displayed against the S wall of the chancel. This graveslab (L 1.9m), which is tapered or wedge-shaped with chamfered sides, was the lid of a coffin-tomb. It is nearly fully intact, missing only its lower right-hand corner, and possibly part of its lower extremity, where the edge appears raw and is not chamfered. It bears a large bottonée or foliated cross in low relief, with the top and arms of the cross terminating in trefoils. Two additional arms placed at a diagonal, angled upwards, are placed roughly centrally on the shaft of the cross, also terminating in trefoils; these are unusual features and it has been suggested that they may have been designed to represent the Christ's arms on the cross (McDermott 2009, 99). The foliated cross is a design typical of Anglo-Norman tombs; it has been found in Bannow, Co. Wexford (WX044-045007-) and Kilkenny Dominican friary (KK019-026021-) and suggests a thirteenth-century date for the grave-slab (McDermott 2009, 100). At least two of the other grave-slabs (MA070-067009-; MA070-067010-) at Strade bear a similar design. Attached image: MA070-067004-_01.JPG Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye Date of upload: 29 September 2020

• MA070-067005 Religious house - Franciscan friars
  Description

  This record was listed in the SMR (1991) and RMP (1996) as 'Friary'. It relates to an OS mapping error which identifies an 'Abbey (Site of)'. This refers to the establishment of a Franciscan friary in the 13th century which was subsequently transferred to the Dominican friars (MA070-067001-) in 1252-3. In essence, this is a duplicate record. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 17 November 2014

• MA070-067006 Graveyard
  Description

  The Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) is in the process of providing information on all monuments on The Historic Environment Viewer (HEV). Currently the information for this record has not been uploaded. To access available information for research purposes please make an appointment in advance with the Archive Unit (open Fridays 10.00 am – 5.00 pm), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, The Custom House, Dublin 1 D01W6XO or email NMarchive@housing.gov.ie.

• MA070-067007 Graveslab
  Description

  Located in Strade Dominican friary (MA070-067001-), one of a group of five graveslabs (see also MA070-067004-; MA070-067008- to MA070-06710-) on displayed against the S wall of the chancel. This graveslab, possibly thirteenth-century in date, was the lid of a coffin-tomb and is tapered in shape. It is nearly intact, though the top left corner is missing. The surface of the slab is worn, but it is possible to make out the outline of a cross, carved in low relief extending the length of the slab. The cross shaft appears to terminate in a trefoil. It seems likely that the design was similar to that of two other slabs (MA070-067004-; MA070-067010-), on which a large bottonée or foliated cross survives. Attached image: SL070-067007-_01.JPG Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye Date of upload: 29 September 2020

• MA070-067008 Graveslab
  Description

  Located in Strade Dominican friary (MA070-067001-). This graveslab, possibly thirteenth-century in date, is one of a group of five (see also MA070-067004-; MA070-067007-; MA070-067009-; MA070-067010-) on displayed against the S wall of the chancel. It consists of the lower section of a tapered or wedge-shaped slab. It features a raised band around its edge and a centrally placed low-relief shaft of a cross. The cross shaft has a trefoil terminal, suggesting that the complete slab was adorned with a bottonée or foliated cross, of the type visible on two intact grave-slabs (MA070-067004-; MA070-067010-). Attached image: SL070-067008-_01.JPG Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye Date of upload: 29 September 2020

• MA070-067009 Graveslab
  Description

  Located in Strade Dominican friary (MA070-067001-), one of a group of five (see also MA070-067004-; MA070-067007-; MA070-067008-; MA070-067010-) on displayed against the S wall of the chancel. This intact, tapered graveslab, possibly thirteenth-century in date, was the lid of a coffin-tomb. It is small in size (L 1.19m; max. Wth 0.39m) and may have been covered the tomb of a child. The surface of the slab is worn, but the outline of a long cross carved in low relief extending almost the full length of the slab is visible. A short cross bar, just above the base of the shaft, has a small spiral at each terminal. The design of the upper portion of the cross is now unclear. An additional arm, extending upwards at an angle off the cross-shaft, is visible on the right-hand side of the slab; a similar design is visible on two of the other grave-slabs (MA070-067004-; MA070-067010-). Attached image: SL070-067009-_01.JPG Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye Date of upload: 29 September 2020

• MA070-067010 Graveslab
  Description

  Located in Strade Dominican friary (MA070-067001-), one of a group of five (see also MA070-067004-; MA070-067007- to MA070-067009-) on display against the S wall of the chancel. This graveslab (L 1.9; max. Wth 0.6m), which is fully intact, is tapered or wedge-shaped and served as the lid of a coffin-tomb. It bears a large bottonée or foliated cross in low relief, with the top, bottom and arms of the cross terminating in trefoils. Beneath the horizontal arms, there are two additional arms, rising from the shaft at a diagonal angle, which also terminate in trefoils. These diagonal arms are an unusual feature, and may have been designed to represent the Christ's arms on the cross (McDermott 2009, 99). The foliated cross is a design typical of Anglo-Norman tombs, and have been found in Bannow, Co. Wexford (WX044-045007-) and Kilkenny Dominican friary (KK019-026021-), and suggests a thirteenth-century date for this grave-slab (McDermott 2009, 100). Attached image: SL070-067010-_01.JPG Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye Date of upload: 29 September 2020

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

Ground and risks

Radon

At the centre of this parcel, about 1 in 5 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

The 1:50,000 map rates the landslide susceptibility here as low.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of this parcel.

Flooding

The Office of Public Works publishes its flood maps on floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, and Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland, both under CC BY 4.0. LiDAR: contains Irish Public Sector Data (Geological Survey Ireland & the Office of Public Works) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.

Download this parcel as DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its neighbours and buildings, for a drawing program. GeoJSON, in WGS 84, suits a map, and KML opens in Google Earth.

Registered freehold land, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. A parcel is the land of a title, not an address. The owner's name is in the Land Registry of Tailte Éireann: a copy of the folio can be ordered on landdirect.ie, for a fee.