page_title: Carrickgollogan
section_title: Rathmichael old church and round tower
hierarchical_section_title: Carrickgollogan / History / Rathmichael old church and round tower
caption_attribution_description: The Little Cross - one of the Fassaroe Crosses - found at Rathmichael Lane, County Dublin, Ireland
context_page_description: Carrickgollogan is a hill in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in Ireland. It is 276 metres high and rises above the village of Shankill on the eastern edge of the Dublin Mountains. Its summit is noted for the panoramic views it offers of south Dublin and north Wicklow.
  The author Weston St. John Joyce, writing in The Neighbourhood of Dublin, described the vista as "a fine view is obtained of Bray, Howth, Dalkey, and Killiney, the vale of Shanganagh, and Bray Head and town. Between the observer and the sea will be seen Loughlinstown, looking very closely built from this point, like the towns of medieval times, which were built within as small an area as possible, so as to reduce the circuit of the enclosing wall. To the westward will be seen the wooded hill of Barnaslingan, forming the eastern side of the Scalp, beyond that the Two and Three Rock Mountains, and south of these the higher Wicklow hills – War Hill, Djouce, and Duff Hill".
  The geological composition of the summit is predominantly quartzite. The high ground is a mixture of heathland and commercial forestry while the lower slopes are mainly farmland.
context_section_description: Further down the slopes to the north of the summit lies Rathmichael where the ruins of a church and round tower are found enclosed within the remains of what would once have been one of the largest ringforts in Ireland. The church dates from Norman times but the presence of the round tower and ringfort indicates that the site dates back to early Christian times. Its dedication is believed to be to a saint called MacTail (later corrupted as "Michael") which would date the foundation of the monastery and church to the mid-seventh century. The site also lies close to the route of the pilgrimage route from St. Mary's Church, Dublin to Glendalough. The entrance to the ringfort was 8 feet (2.4 metres) in width and had an arched gateway. The ring wall and mound is approximately 350 feet (110 metres) in diameter and its size suggests the site was the base for an important chieftain. Within the enclosure would have lain a small quadrangular church and a number of monastic huts.
  Only the base of the round tower, 2 metres (6.6 feet) high, remains. It has a circumference of 51 feet (16 metres). The tower is known locally as "The Skull Hole", a reference to the occasion when skulls and bones from the adjoining burial ground were deposited there rather than being re-interred when the graveyard was cleared to create additional space. There is a story of an underground passage that leads from the round tower to the sea and of a piper who descended into the passage playing his instrument, never to be seen again. The remains of a passage – possibly a souterrain – have been found close to the tower.
  All that remains of the church is the east gable of a thirteenth-century chancel and the south wall of a twelfth-century nave. The church has lain in ruins since the end of the seventeenth century. It is noted for its collection of grave slabs or leacs known as the Rathdown stones, nine examples of which can be found at the old church in Rathmichael attached to the south wall. Thirty-two examples of these slabs are known around the Rathdown area and are found nowhere else in Ireland. No two stones are the same but share similar types of decoration in the form of concentric circles, cup marks and herring-bone patterns. It was once thought that these slabs dated to pre-Christian times but subsequent research has shown them to have been influenced by Norsemen art styles and they are now believed to be gravemarkers of Norsemen Christians.
  Along Rathmichael Lane, which once would have led to the old Rathmichael Church, is a twelfth-century cross with a Crucifixion scene in high relief set in a granite boulder base. This is one of a series of crosses – known as the Fassaroe Crosses – to be found in the locality, all of which are believed to have been the work of the same stonemason. The base is in its original location but the cross itself was found in the remains of the church in neighbouring Kiltuck and reunited with its base in 1910. The cross is unusual in that there is a Crucifixion scene on both faces. Competing theories for the purpose of the cross are that it marked a route between the churches at Rathmichael and Kiltuck or that it marked the site of another, now long gone, church. There is a story associated with this cross involving General George Cockburn of Shanganagh Castle who was a noted collector of antiquities. Cockburn coveted the cross and dispatched two men to retrieve it for his collection. When they attempted to move the artefact a great wind blew up and heavy rain fell. They succeeded in loading it onto their cart but then their horse bolted and they had to pull the cart themselves. Finally, a serious accident occurred to one of the men while unloading the cross and further misfortune befell his family.
caption: The Little Cross, one of the Fassaroe crosses, at Rathmichael Lane
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