page_title: Collinstown
section_title: Lough Lene Bell
hierarchical_section_title: Collinstown / Lough Lene Bell
caption_attribution_description: English: Collinstown, archaeological site in County Westmeath. Available to Public in Dublin: nitpickers abstain. Like anyone equiped with photographic equipment, and image treatment software, satisfactory resluts are today attainable, by anyone, me in this case: NIT Pickers, Puretins, and otherwise.... Circulate, continue your road
context_page_description: Collinstown is a village in north County Westmeath, situated on the R395 regional road overlooking Lough Lene. It lies 18 km northeast of the county town of Mullingar and had a population of 356.
context_section_description: In 1881 an ancient bell was found by a boy fishing for eels on Castle Island in Lough Lene, part of the Barbavila estate owned by William Barlow Smythe. In 1882 Smythe presented this "Lough Lene Bell" to the Royal Irish Academy.  Given the proximity to Fore Abbey, Smythe concluded that the bell possibly belonged to the St Feichin Abbey. During the Viking and Anglo-Norman oppressions, it may have been transferred to Nun's Island, before eventually being hidden upon Castle Island. 
  The bell has a faint outline of the Christian Celtic cross upon opposing sides and has an ornamental peripheral border. Smythe pronounced that ornamentation was generally reserved for the cases or shrines for that era and was therefore most unusual. The bell appears similar to two other bells from that early Christian period. These had been found in Bangor, County Down in the year 1832, and another in Cashel, County Tipperary in 1849. 
  Smythe, the Barbavila owner, believed that the Lough Lene Bell was contemporary to these other 7th-century bells, supporting his theory that it was possible that it could have been a relic of St. Feichins.
  While the original bell remains within the National Museum, a half sized replica holds a place of pride as the Ceann Comhairle's bell in Dáil Éireann. This replica was presented to the Dáil in 1931 by the widow of Major Bryan Cooper, a former member of the House. In recent years, yet another replica has been cast from the mold of this bell and is on display in St Mary's (Roman Catholic) Church in Collinstown and also St Feichin's church in Fore.
caption: Lough Lene Bell replica
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image ExifOffset": "78"}