Raheen-a-Cluig | |||||||||
Other Name: | Raheenac[h]luig Church, Raheen na gClig, Raheen na Clig | ||||||||
Native Name: | Ráithín an Chloig | ||||||||
Native Name Lang: | ga | ||||||||
Pushpin Map: | Ireland | ||||||||
Relief: | yes | ||||||||
Coordinates: | 53.1938°N -6.0905°W | ||||||||
Country: | Ireland | ||||||||
Denomination: | Pre-Reformation Catholic | ||||||||
Founded Date: | c. 1200 | ||||||||
Dedication: | St Michael or St Brendan | ||||||||
Functional Status: | ruined | ||||||||
Style: | Norman | ||||||||
Years Built: | 13th century | ||||||||
Length: | 12.5m (41feet) | ||||||||
Width: | 5.3m (17.4feet) | ||||||||
Height: | 2m (07feet) | ||||||||
Floor Count: | 1 | ||||||||
Floor Area: | 66m2 | ||||||||
Materials: | stone | ||||||||
Diocese: | Dublin | ||||||||
Embedded: |
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Raheen-a-Cluig is a medieval church and National Monument in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland.[2]
Raheen-a-Cluig lies on the north face of Bray Head in Raheen Park, about 300m (1,000feet) south of the beach, with a commanding view over the coastline.
Raheen-a-Cluig is believed to have been built in the 12th–13th century AD.[3] The name derives from the Irish Ráithín an Chloig. This would mean "little fort of the bell", but there is no sign of a fort. Ráithín can also refer to a wall of built-up sods of turf, or it could be a version of raithean, "ferny area". It was given to the Augustines by the then prominent Archbold family. It may have been dedicated to St Michael or St Brendan.[4] [5]
It was partially restored in the 18th century. Over the years it has also been used as a hideout by smugglers, and it associated with various ghost stories.
The ruins have a doorway in the northeast wall which would have originally held a strong timber door, and round-headed windows in the east and west gables.
There were two smaller buildings close by and so is an enclosure: probably a cillín: a burial ground for suicides, shipwrecked sailors, strangers, unrepentant murderers and unbaptised babies.
About a 400 m (¼ mile) southeast of the church there was a holy well, known as Patrick’s Well. This was still used in the 1830s, mostly by invalids.[6]