Ratass Church


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, 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.
The ogham stone is much earlier; based on the Primitive Irish grammar, it is placed in AD 550–600.

Description

The stone is of fine purple sandstone, with the inscription NM SILLANN MAQ VATTILLOGG. It was discovered in 1975 during a cleanup; it had been built into the sides of a 19th-century burial vault.