Rich heritage treasure at Kilbixy impresses minister

The stonemasons who have just finished carrying out restoration works on the imposing 11m tall Malone Mausoleum at Kilbixy admit that they have been left impressed by the craftsmanship of the original masons who built the eye-catching structure, writes Eilís Ryan.

They’re not alone in their admiration: Canon Alastair Graham said that it has been claimed that the building is probably the finest mausoleum in private ownership in the British Isles.

It’s rare that the public gets to see inside the mausoleum, but the doors were unlocked on Monday last for the visit to Kilbixy of Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, TD, who came at the invitation of Deputy Robert Troy.

Violet Medforth, church warden at St Bigseach’s – the Church of Ireland church at Kilbixy – told the minister that among the four members of the Malone family buried in the mausoleum is the noted Shakespearean scholar, Edmond Malone, who spent his working life in London annotating Shakespeare’s plays and working out the chronology of their publication.

The restoration of the mausoleum has been funded by The Follies Trust.

The mausoleum is one of three structures of note on the site; the others are the charming church of St Bigseach itself and the ruins of what is claimed to have been a 12th century leper hospital.

Substantial sums have been spent over the last five years in stabilising the stout solid stone walls of the structure of the leper hospital and in removing foliage that was colonising the walls: Minister Noonan’s department allocated almost €80,000 between 2019 and 2021 and in 2022 granted a further €85,000 under the Community Monuments Fund.

Archaeologist Caimin O’Brien, of The National Monuments Service, spoke about the building, and admitted that while it was clearly an important building, there is some doubt over whether it was actually a leper hospital.

Canon Graham told the minister that in the past, the roof collapsed at St Bigseach’s. Half the church was re-roofed, but the front part was not. “In 2009, it was discovered that a keystone was slipping and threatening to bring the whole building down,” the canon continued, explaining that an investment of €400,000 was then made in repairing the church and in re-roofing the part left open, which now serves as a social space for the community.

Minister Noonan spoke of his pleasure in viewing the Kilbixy site, and said it was important for him to see how effectively his department’s funding schemes are working, and helping build skills and capacity: “I think the multiplying value of the funding schemes we have brought in is really quite exceptional,” he said.

“It manifests itself in how communities respond to

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heritage in their areas, and how they see the value in them and how they want to be part of conservation care, and the interpretation of the heritage in [their] areas.”

Eoin Madigan of Madigan Traditional Masonry, Ennistymon, who is a sixth generation stonemason, led the team who undertook the restoration of the mausoleum, which is topped by a 4m high pyramid shape.

“We were brought in to conserve the pyramid as it had slipped out of its original building line,” says Eoin.

That meant bringing in a mechanical hoist so they could dismantle the pyramid and get it down to ground level: “There were 225 pieces of stone ranging from 250 to 600 kilos. So it was quite an operation,” he says.

“We then had to prep all the stone for the rebuild; prep the dome that was underneath the pyramid, and then rebuild back to the original building line – with a tolerance of about 10 millimetres.”

It was challenging, but Eoin enjoyed the job: “I’ve learned a lot about my own trade that I never knew before: it’s been an eye-opener and a wonderful project to be involved in.”

Eoin understands the mausoleum to have been built in 1817, but he believes it’s not known who the masons were who built it: “All I do know is they had to have been among the best stonemasons in the country. The level of stonecutting in this far surpasses anything that is being done in stonecutting today, even with today’s mechanical devices. You are talking about 1mm joins in some of the stonework.”