Fógra
Gallarus Oratory
Situated beautifully within the serene Kerry landscape, Gallarus Oratory has Mount Brandon as its backdrop, with views of Smerwick harbour to its front.
This upturned boat-shaped structure is likely one of the first efforts at building stone churches within Ireland, and archaeologists have suggested that its shape is connected to the reverence around St. Brendan the Navigator.
Historians have yet to figure out exactly when Gallarus was built. It has been guessed to date to the 8th century, however it is more likely to originate from the 11th or 12th century.
The curved angle of the building helps to deter water, preventing leaks, hence why it is so well preserved to this day, and it is only one of three of these types of churches to have its corbelled roof remain intact. The other two examples are still in existence on Sceilg Mhichíl.
Gallarus is probably most well-known through one of Seamus Heaney’s poems: “In Gallarus Oratory”, in which he describes what it feels like to stand inside the darkness of the oratory:
"You can still feel the community pack
This place: it’s like going into a turfstack,
A core of old dark walled up with stone
A yard thick. When you’re in it alone,
You might have dropped, a reduced creature,
To the heart of the globe.”
Gailearaí
Suíomhanna cóngarach
Ionad an Bhlascaoid
An scéal a bhaineann le pobal uathúil oileánda
Timpeall 8.8 km ón
Ardeaglais Ard Fhearta
Trí shéipéal mheánaoiseacha tiomanta do Naomh Breandán
Timpeall 42.5 km ón
Maoin Oidhreachta Domhanda EOECNA Sceilg Mhichíl
Mainistir Oileánda ina seasamh go hard os cionn na farraige
Timpeall 45.7 km ón