Aughnacliffe

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Tower Bell from Inchmore, Lough Gowna

This is a cast bronze bell of early form, probably made in Italy or France in the 15th century. An inscription in Latin near the base has been partially deciphered: the word magister refers either to God or to a ‘master’ bell-founder.
The bell is said to have belonged to the monastery of Inchmore in Lough Gowna, an ancient site associated with St Colum Cille and later an Augustinian house. Early tower bells are a rarity in Ireland and this is among the oldest known. The bell is believed to have been used to call the monks to prayer. Having been hidden for many years, it was recovered from the lake and hung in Dunbeggan (Aughnacliffe) about 1840. It remained the only bell there until the great renovation of 1932 when the present bell was installed.

The Aughnacliffe and Cleenrath Dolmens

The dolmen in Aughnacliffe gives the townland its name “The Field of the Stones”. It stands in the lee of a frontal moraine from the last glaciation. The place is unique in Ireland in that three religions were practised there down through the centuries.

The first were the dolmen builders who originated in the East, possibly the Nile region of Africa or from Mesopotamia. Their religion was known as magic after their priests the Magi. Their priests were skilful in the arts of healing, of astronomy and the ritual rights of the dead including the skills needed in dolmen construction.

They were made subservient by the Celts who constructed a fortress (Dunbeggan) on the moraine and imposed the Druidic religion. Later, Christianity came to the area and a village and church were erected close to the fort to be finally abandoned to the present village of Aughnacliffe and St Colmcille’s Church in 1830’s. About half a mile due north stands the second spectacular Cleenrath dolmen, which is also in the lee of a glacier moraine.

The Sonnagh Fort

There are seven forts circling the church – all within a radius of one mile. One of the best situated is the Sonnagh Fort, as it stands in a commanding place overlooking the eastern plains as it extends to Westmeath.

Like all the others is would have had a log stockade on top of its earthen walls. Within the enclosure were the house and other buildings. While house type varied most were made of wood and were usually of post and wattle construction. The walls of the houses consisted of a double row of wattle spaced about 20cm apart with a cavity filled with straw and bracken for insulation. The roof was thatched with straw. Wooden posts held up the roof.

These forts were the scattered farmsteads of the Millesian Celts who were said to be one of six Celtic peoples to invade Ireland and finally take full control of it. They had a very strict priestly order known as the Druids.

Inch Mór Monastery

The ruins of Inch Mór on Lough Gowna stand as a silent reminder of one of the oldest centres of Christian worship in the North Longford region.
Tradition tells us that St Colmcille was born at Gartan, Co Donegal on Thursday 7 December, 521 AD. In the year 544, he was ordained a priest at St Finian’s Monastery in Clonard, Co Meath. In all he founded 100 monasteries in Ireland and Scotland. After the Battle of Culgrevny, in the year 563, where thousands of the High King’s men were slain in an ambush, St Colmcille was forced into exile at the age of 42 never to return.

The next Abbot was St Boodan, who died in 596. In the year 800 the Abbot was M’Laisre, also known as “The Excellent”, because of his sanctity. In the year 804, it was burned and looted by the Danes. For 50 years it was deserted, but in the year 860, when Toicluch was the Lord Abbot he restored the buildings. The monastery served the people as a place of worship and a sanctuary for the sick and destitute for several centuries. The monks lived a very hard life of work, prayer and fasting and Inch Mór was the original of the modern parishes of Colmcille, Purth and Mullinalaghta.

In the twelfth century the Abbot adopted the Augustinian rule and so continued until the dissolution by Henry VIII 1543. In that year Bishop O’Farrell sought refuge there, having been expelled from Abbeylara. Later in the year the monks of Inch were also forced to flee the monastery that had been their island home and place of worship for close on 1000 years. It is now the tradition to celebrate the Saint’s death with Mass on the island in remembrance of the death of St Colmcille, when he died peacefully in his bed in Iona Abbey on Whit Sunday at noon, 9th June in the year 597 AD, surrounded by his faithful monks.