churches historical ireland

A diminutive early church or oratory, prominently situated on a bare limestone ridge above the village of Killeany on Inishmore, largest of the three Aran Islands in Galway bay. It takes its name from a fifth-century saint, Benen or Benignus, but is later than his time.

It is however of considerable antiquity and several of its features are indicative of a date possibly in the eight or ninth century: the steeply pitched gables, narrow trabeate doorway with inclined jambs, and the except...

A St. Bridget ( Not to be confused with the saint of the same name from Kildare) founded a monastery or convent here in the 6th century which was burned in 1094. The 34 foot high stump of a Round Tower with round-headed doorway is all that remains of the old monastery. The church is said to have been built in 1609, but may be earlier. It has an intact east window and partially preserved barrel-vaulting. The staircase leading from the church to the roof forms a separate building beside the ch...

The church, which was dedicated to St. Bridget, is unusual in that the chancel is broader than the nave. The chancel has a rounded chancel-arch and two round-headed east windows. It is of 12th or 13th century date. After the Norman conquest it was granted to the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, and was attached to Kill of the Grange. In a field on the opposite side of the road is a tall, narrow cross with a bishop on one face and a head on the other, while a little down the road an ancient und...

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...

A monastery was founded here by St MacCullin in early Christian times, and the name Lusk derives from the cave (Irish 'lusca') where MacCullin was buried after his death in 497 AD.

The unusual square sixteenth-century belfry incorporates a sixth century Round Tower with three later towers built to match, all attached to a nineteenth-century church which contains some fine mediaeval tombs. Now the Lusk Heritage Centre, the belfry houses an exhibition on the mediaeval churches of North C...

At Derrykeighan Old Church about 1.5 miles from the village, a stone was recently discovered built into the corner of the church. The stone which is not part of the original fabric of the building, is thought to date from the 1st century AD and is an Irish form of the Early Iron Age Celtic Art which has its beginning in Greek and Etruscan art of the 4th and 5th Centuries BC.

The Stone which is thought to have been carved locally is one of the most important Early Iron Age objects yet f...

The Methodist Church, with its fine classical facade was built between 1865-67. The church is adjoined to the McArthur Hall built in 1888. McArthur was an Enniskillener who went on to be Lord Mayor of London and generously gave to his former congregation....

A roughly square enclosure surrounded by a 6 ft high wall having, at two opposing corners, rounded bastions with arrow-slits. Remains of the gateway to the enclosure are preserved.
The wall resembles castle bawns, but inside, instead of a tower, there are just the remains of one central rectangular house and a number of subsidiary rectangular buildings.

Nothing is known about the history of the place, but it was possibly built by a retainer of the de Burgs as a fortified homestead...

A Franciscan foundation, Layde was a parish church from 1306 to the end of the 18th century. Chief burial place of the MacDonnells after Bonamargy. Free access always. A mile north of Cushendall via footpath on coast road to Torr Head, signposted....

A small 12th century church which consisted of a nave and chancel. Only the foundations of the nave remain, but the chancel is better preserved and contains a rounded east window which splays inwards. It is picturesquely situated beside lake Ballymore....