Ratass Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ratass Church |
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| Rathass Church | |
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Teampall Ráth Teas
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Ratass Church
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 Ratass Church
Location in Ireland
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| 52°16′01″N 9°40′55″W / 52.267007°N 9.681814°W | |
| Location | Quill Street, Tralee, County Kerry |
| Country | Ireland |
| Denomination | Catholic (pre-Reformation) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | ruined |
| Style | Romanesque |
| Years built | 10th century AD |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Width | 7.5 m (25 ft) |
| Number of floors | 1 |
| Floor area | 120 m2 (1,300 sq ft) |
| Materials | sandstone, limestone, mortar |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Ardfert and Aghadoe |
Ratass Church is a medieval church with ogham stone forming a National Monument in Tralee, Ireland.
Location
The church is located in a graveyard on Quill Street, in the eastern suburbs of Tralee.
History
It is believed that a ringfort or embanked enclosure was built here first (Rath Mhaighe Teas, "fort of the southern plain"), before a sandstone church was erected in the 10th century AD, and served as the centre of Kerry diocese from 1111 to 1117, when the seat was moved to Ardfert. The west gable and part of the nave walls belong to this earlier construction; the rest of the church is later.
Ogham Stone
The Ogham Stone is much earlier; based on the Primitive Irish grammar, it is placed in AD 550–600.
The stone is of fine purple sandstone (145 × 34 × 20 cm), with the inscription [A]NM SILLANN MAQ VATTILLOGG ("name of Sílán son of Fáithloga"). It was discovered in 1975 during a cleanup; it had been built into the sides of a 19th-century burial vault.
