The Exterior Baptistry
Malahide has been
a populated area for a considerable length of time with remains of much
prehistoric activity, then settled again very considerably by the Vikings in
the late eighth century, before finally becoming a rapidly growing suburb from
the 1960’s on. The village of Malahide has a holy well of its own on the old
main street, dedicated to St Sylvester, but today it is covered up and there is
no access. A pattern day used to be observed at this well in honour of the
Blessed Virgin Mary on 15th August.
View of the Original Church with the Victorian Extension to the rear
The church of
Saint Doulagh is a fair bit out from the village in what must have been an
isolated area at one time and today is a marriage of a twelfth century structure
and a Victorian chapel. As you approach the church the tower and the the front
portion are the original structure, which includes a double stone roof, a few
‘cells’ and a couple of rooms of quite small proportions. It is possible that
the two small rooms could have been a refectory and dormitory for monks that
would have lived on site. Of the monks of the twelfth century we know nothing,
but there is some evidence that the site was used continuously by Christian
communities dating back to the time of Saint Patrick and it is with a saint
closer to Patrick’s time that we will concern ourselves with here.
The Cross
Saint Doolagh
(Doulagh in the church spelling, Dúileach in Irish) was an anchorite living on
this site. At the church there is the twelfth century structure, the newer
church, an ancient baptistry (outside) and a pond or well. Engravings from the
eighteenth century show a stone circular structure to the front of the church
and close to the baptistry, but no trace of this now remains. Inside the
twelfth century structure of the church, one of the rooms incorporates a tomb,
which throughout it’s history has been understood to be the tomb of the saint.
The anchoritic life was one of the earliest forms of Christian monasticism,
common among early Christians throughout the Middle East, most famously in
Egypt. It was an extreme lifestyle of little comfort, constant prayer, minimal
food and water and intense concentration. It was carried out in solitude where
possible with a considerable focus on the importance on the Eucharist as the
principal act of worship. While there is evidence that the anchoritic life was
fairly common among early Christians in Ireland, it was curiously not the case
in Britain, which did not see the rise in popularity of this charism until the
late Middle Ages. Saint Doulagh’s life must have been hard, unrelenting in it’s
challenge and fraught with a certain danger too.
View of the church
Very little else
is known of Saint Doulagh. He appears in the ancient Calendar of Christ Church
Cathedral as ‘Episcopus et Confessor’ (Bishop and Confessor) and his patronal
day is listed as the 17th November (although this may be a change from an
original festival date of 1st August). He features hardly at all in any other
hagiographical literature in Ireland, or indeed Europe. His lineage is
preserved in various documents and some documents speak of his ‘bed’ being a
place where pregnant mothers would lie and say prayers for a safe birth. His
history (in the form of a Saint’s Life) was said to have been preserved at the
site up until the seventeenth century when it was destroyed, an event that
might have corroborating evidence in the destruction of the baptistry too.
Despite his obscurity now, he must have been famous even in his day, as he is
listed as one of the saints invoked in the ceremony as a guarantor of the Law
of Adomnán.
The holy well
The holy well is
in the middle of the only exterior and detached baptistry in all of Ireland.
It is a large circular hole in the centre of an octagonal structure with a pool
to the rear. The well is sadly dry, some citing the expansion of the nearby
road as the cause, but recent reports suggest that after two horribly wet
summers that water has surfaced! The well originally drained out into the pool
to the rear, known as Saint Catherine’s pool. It is thought that the baptistry was for the baptism of boys, whereas the pool was for the baptism of girls, but it is more likely that the pool is for adult baptism by full immersion. The baptistry was plastered and
decorated by a local resident (Peter Fagan) at great expense in 1609, with
fresco paintings of Saint Patrick, Saint Doulagh, Saint Brigid and Saint
Columba, with a central overhead fresco of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon
the Apostles. A large marble plaque also bore the inscription: 'Bethesda's sacred pool, let others tell, with healing virtues, let her waters swell. An equal glory shall Fingallia claim, not be less grateful for her blissful stream. Thy prayers, Doulachus, mounted up to He'ven, thence to thy will the mighty power be given, to drive the fiery fever away. Strength to replace and rescue from decay, in every malady a life to stay. The cherub, wondrous, moves his wat'ry sphere. The Saint beholds, who stirs the fountain here. Hail, lovely fount! If long unsung thy name, it thence shall rise above the starry frame.' Sadly, these were all completely destroyed by Sir Richard Bulkeley of Dunlavin on his return from the
Battle of the Boyne, and it is possible that he destroyed the Saint’s Life at
the same time.
The pool of St Catherine
The site also
contains a small granite cross in a latin type shape with flayed edges. The
stone is not native to the area and must have been brought in from elsewhere,
possibly as part of another site. Dating the cross is somewhat difficult, but
it is possible that it dates to the period of the original church and monastic
settlement that still exists as part of the church today. Despite the dryness
of the well, a patronal service for Saint Doulagh is still held today along
with ecumenical gatherings, but no pattern has been observed here since the end
of the eighteenth century.
View of the baptistry
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me.
The Prayer of the
Heart in the Orthodox tradition
(dating back to
the Desert Fathers.)
To the rear of the baptistry
How to find it:
This is an easy
site to find. Travel up the Malahide Road (R107) and you will see the church on
your left. The cross stands at the entrance and the baptistry is to the right
of the church.