churches historical ireland

Clonfeacle parish church (1618), outside the priory gates, is one of the oldest churches in regular use in the province. Basically a hall(the belfry tower was added in 1892), the church has a seventeenth century font and bell, and a monument to Captain James Hamilton. Hamilton was one of 3000 Scots killed at the battle of Benburb in 1646. Led by Major General Robert Monroe, the Scots were routed in a disastrous encounter with Owen Roe O'Neill, charismatic nephew of the great Hugh O'Neill. The Ir...

An Abbey or Priory of the Carmelites was founded here in 1298 probably by Adam de Staunton of Castlecarra. It is the lower down of two churches in the field and has some 13th century niches, though much of the church was rebuilt in the 15th century when the present windows were inserted and the domestic buildings added. It became Augustinian in 1413 and was burned in 1430. further up the field, in the graveyard, is a 14th century parish church with the lower part of the walls sloping outwards...

Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church stands on the site of a pre-Reformation Carmelite Priory (1539). Nothing remains of the older buildings. The foundation stone was laid in 1825. In 1856 and 1868 the church was considerably extended and enlarged. The architect, George Papworth (1781-1855) was also the designer of Dublin's Pro Cathedral.

St Valentine : The church contains the remains of St Valentine given by Pope Gregory XVI to Fr Spratt from the cemetery of St Hippolytus, Rome, i...

The Catholic Church has the eminent Cork sculptor John O'Connell 's plaque and bust for Fr thomas Mary Kinane who undertook major renovation at the turn of the century.

Cashel's square has a fountain erected to commemorate his services 'in connecton with the Cashel extension railway, 1904' ....

Dates back to the 14th Century and is where the name 'Kilkeel' originates, translated as 'Church of the Narrows'. The Church, dedicated to St.Colman, was once the principal Church for the area. The ruined Church and Cemetery both stand in a Rath in the centre of Kilkeel town....

It was possibly St. Comgall of Bangor who founded the first monastery here. The present nave-and-chancel church may have been built or re-built as late as the 16th century, but it incorporates part of an earlier church. Attached to the south wall of the church are a number of unusual Early Christian decorated slabs.

Near the south-west end of the church is the stump of a Round Tower. Remains of the old monastic stone wall surround the graveyard.

In a laneway leading down fr...

Situated 3km north-west of Kilmurvey, the miscalled - Seven Churches - mark an ancient site dedicated to Saint Breacan. The name is loosely applied to the remains of two small churches, Teampall Bhreacain and Teampaill an Phoill. Close to the churches, on the south-west, is Leaba an Spioraid Naoimh (bed of the Holy Spirit), a penitential station with fragments of a figured high cross. Nearby, to the south-east, is Leaba Bhreacain, another station.

To the north of Leaba an Spioraid Naoi...

A good example of a medieval parish church which has a fine 15th Century south doorway, and a contemporary east window. One of the corbels at the east end of the north wall is decorated with a carved head. An upper storey at the west end may have been used as a fortified residence....

The church is unique, having corrugated iron walls and roof, three falleries, a stained glass rose window in each gable and representations of two saints not usually the objects of Irish country devotion - Thomas Aquinas and William. the names coincide with the first names of the priest donors....

In the 17th and 18th centuries Kinsale was an important English naval base. This is reflected in the architecture of the town which, with its 18th century flavour and a whiff of the distant southern shores reached by its mariners, makes Kinsale into the town with what, in my opinion, is the most individual character in the country. In the town and its surroundings are some interesting monuments. St. Multose Church: The present Church of Ireland Parish church, founded probably by de Cogan...