St.Saviour’s church Glendalough
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Does anyone have any information on the little romanesque church of St.Saviour’s at Glendalough, specifically it’s current state of conservation? I visited there last week and was dissapointed to find it in the following state;
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Anyone know what’s causing all this ? Any plans to rectify the situation afoot? It’s a shame because some of the very finest surviving romanesque carving in the country is found in this church, and of course if the stone is actually being degraded by this then it’s more than a shame…
Ake!
Looking at Tadhg O’Keeffe’s Romanesque Ireland[Four Courts, 2003], p. 329, I find a mention of the problem you have noticed at St. Saviour’s in Glandalough. He says that ” St. Saviour’s is heavily restored, its lovely stonework disfigured by calcite from the late nineteenth-century mortar” ..though the “restoration seems quite faithful to its original appearance”.
T. O’Keeffe dates this Augustinian priory church to some time between 1153 and 1162 while Lawrence O’Toole was still abbot.
So, I suppose the only way to solve this problem -before it completely erodes the stonework- is to take ita all apart again and rebuild it without the problematic mortar. However, can we expect that the OPW is up to this – given what they have been at on Cormac’s chapel. Speaking of which, any updates on that question?
Thanks for reminding me about that in O’Keefe! He’s right about the restoration it was very decent by Victorian standards though not ideal by any means. Well if this is what’s causing the problem it’s hardly a new problem- so perhaps it’s not effecting the stone too significantly? Is that possible? Even if so, it’s a shame to leave it looking like that.
As for Cashel, nothing. Wil visit again this summer and see if they have made any progress!
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