Columcille Megalith Park, (sculpture).

Columcille Megalith Park, (sculpture).

Cohea, William H., Jr., sculptor.

Columcille Megalith Park, (sculpture).

Columcille Megalith Park and Celtic Art Center, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Megaliths: stone; St. Columba's Chapel: fieldstone with leaded-glass windows, and oak.

150 megaliths on 21 acres. Trilithon: approx. H. 11 ft. x W. 22 in.; Double Circle of Stone: approx. Diam. 62 ft.; Manannan: approx. 22 x 6 x 4 ft.; Chamber entrance: approx. H. 14 ft.; St. Columba Chapel: approx. 24 x 12 x 12 ft.; St. Oran's Bell Tower: approx. H. 16 ft.; Celtic Eye: approx. 12 x 6 x 4 ft.; Dolman: approx. 12 x 5 x 8 ft.

A collection of standing monoliths (menhirs and megaliths) arranged individually and in groups includes full-scale representations of seven traditional symbolic forms. The monoliths are arranged according to astronomical events, cardinal directions or geological features. The seven forms are the Sacred Circle, Menhirs or Sentinel Stones, which give direction or commemorate a special event, a chambered mound with stone entrances to a burial site, a Trilithon, which consists of two upright stones with a third lying horizontally across the top of both, Rites of Passage settings, and high mounds with settings for ceremonial events and alignments marking the direction of geomantic energy flow. The site also contains two buildings, the St. Columba Chapel and St. Oran's Bell Tower. The St. Columba Chapel is hexagonal in shape with an apexed roof, crown bullion antique leaded-glass windows, a 350 lb. oak door, wooden pews, and a stone floor. There is a large boulder in the center of the chapel's interior. St. Oran's Bell Tower is a vertical structure with a bell at the top. It is intentionally unfinished to convey the continuous seeking of answers which characterizes Faith.

Religion -- Saint -- St. Columba

Religion -- Saint -- St. Oran

Religion -- Christianity

Religion -- Paganism

Ethnic -- Irish

Architecture -- Religious -- Church

Architecture -- Religious -- St. Columba Chapel

Architecture -- Religious -- St. Oran's Bell Tower

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Bangor

Columcille Inc., 2155 Fox Gap Road, Columcille Megalith Park, Bangor, Pennsylvania 18103

Columcille began is 1979 and was in progress at the time of the SOS! survey in June 1995. In 2000, Columcille Inc. was deeded the land from artist William H. Cohea, Jr. The site is designed to be a place of meditation and reflection open to people of all faiths and traditions. It was inspired by the work of St. Columba on the island of Iona in 563 A. D. With a group of Irish monks, St. Columba built a sacred site on Iona steeped in Celtic and Christian traditions. IAS files contain execution dates of individual works, related articles from Pocono World, Summer 1991 and the Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), Oct. 24, 1991, and brochures from Columcille. Additional published material is on file at Columcille Inc.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania survey, 1995.

Columcille Inc., 2012.

Pocono World (Summer 1991): pg. 86-88.

Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania), Oct. 24, 1991, pg. B1, B6.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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