Western People August 20th 1997
Mystery surrounds burial
place
of legendary pirate queen Grainne Uaile
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Western People August 20th 1997 |
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Mystery surrounds burial
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Church restoration experts working on the remains of a 12th century Cistercian Abbey on Clare Island believe it unlikely that the tomb in the north wall of the Abbey is the final resting place of legendary Pirate Queen Grainne Uaile. It had been believed her remains had been interred there, but despite a number of alterations to the building in its early years, one of the outcomes of extensive conservation work at the Abbey is that Grainne Uaile was probably not laid to rest there after her death in 1603. It is possible that her remains may have been laid to rest in a family tomb. However, the carbon dating of medieval wall paintings in the Abbey previously thought to date from the 16th century has proved they were in fact painted in the 14th century. They have been described as the most significant church paintings in Ireland and unique in Europe. Madeleine Katkov, an English wall painting restorer who has been employed at the Abbey by the Office of Public Works each summer since 1991, said there was a presumption Grainne Uaile was interred in a tomb in the north wall of the Abbey "but the architecture of the building pre-dates her death by three centuries so that is very unlikely. "But she could be in a family tomb, it is hard to imagine that she would have been buried anywhere less impressive than that." Katkov and her partner, Christoph Oldenbourg, have been employed by the Office of Public Works at the Abbey each summer since 1991. Together with church restorers from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany Ireland and the UK they have worked on restoring the paintings from a very poor state. No reconstruction work has been undertaken at the Abbey, but the restoration team have endeavoured to preserve what has survived the ravages of time. Though the Abbey is one of only five Irish churches with medieval frescos, the wall paintings on Clare Island, depicting dragons, musicians and farm animals, are very different from standard European church paintings of the time. "There were very strong conventions for church painting in Europe at that time, but the paintings on Clare Island defy those conventions by showing local scenes as opposed to the biblical. Church iconography of the time was thought to have been universal, but these are the only wall paintings in Ireland with a distinct celtic style," said Katkov. Work on conserving the Abbey began in 1991 in a bid to prevent the further deterioration of the paintings which could have been destroyed by algae and fungi. "The fact that one of the most complete series of medieval paintings survived is something of a miracle," said Katkov, who hopes to complete work on the project next year. |