churches historical ireland

Only one wall and a ruined west gable are left of this possibly medieval church. Next to this ruin is a very old graveyard, possibly medieval or later, which has also been used in more recent times as a children's burial ground.

What looks like a mere jumble of stones begins to take on a pattern the more carefully it is examined....

The first monastery here was founded by St. Cainneach in the 6th century. It was plundered in 913, rebuilt in 1052 and burnt again in 1116. it was once the principal church of the Kingdom of Ossory. In 1234 it was rebuilt again as an Augustinian Priory, but was burnt once more in 1346 by Dermot Mac Gillapatrick, and after 1349 remained in MacGillapatrick hands. The tower of the present Protestant church retains original 13th century portions, including the arcade near the top, but the door i...

Originally the site of an ancient Augustian Abbey this church was erected in 1872 replacing the previous "Chapel of Ease" built by Sir Henry Docwra for the settlers. Architect: JG Ferguson. A neo-Gothic church built of whinstone with sandstone dressings, " it is delightfully situated on the City walls, surrounded by its graveyard and a pretty parish school and hall" (Byrne and Frazer). Hammerbeam roof inside. Listed building.

Sited on the West Wall near Bishop's Gate this beautiful...

Blossom Gate. This is the only gate remaining from the medieval town wall of Kilmallock.
The Collegiate Church. The Round Tower of this church may have originally been part of an earlier monastery. The probably 13th century church has three aisles, a chancel and it’s south wall contains a 13th century door. It’s use as by the Church of Ireland had a bearing on the history of the Earls of Desmond; being the place where the ‘Sugan’ Earl surrendered in 1600 and where the 15th Earl attended a...

Situated on the site of an older monastery founded by St. Feichin of Fore in the 7th century, this is a 13th century or later church incorporating 12th century features including a doorway and mouldings at the corners. The doorway has an arch of heads covered by a hood moulding, and there may have been a tympanum.

The capitals have rather worn representations of imaginary beasts. The monks later moved to a spot 300 yards westwards, below the present quarry, where a church with an in...

The first monastery was founded by St, Brendan, who founded a convent for his sister here. Near the southern end of the graveyard is the Cathedral - a 15th century building incorporating a very fine window and a doorway of the late 12th century. Other fragments of the same date may be seen inside the church.

They may all have been removed here either from the Priory (see below) or may come from an earlier church on the site of the Cathedral. To the north of the Cathedral are the foun...

A long rectangular 12th century church. The west doorway is flat-headed but has Romanesque moulding on the outside and a round arch inside, and also holes which held the bars to lock the door. Two round-headed windows in the east wall have hood-mouldings on the outside supported by pillars. There are also some old gravestones, a water font and an unfinished granite cross. Little is known about the history of the place other than that the monastery was possibly founded in the early 6th centur...

Situated in Greyfriars, the French Church was so called because the original Franciscan Abbey (1240) was given to Huguenot refugees as a place of worship in the 17th century....

It was probably founded by St. Cainneach of Aghaboe, Co. Laois (q.v.) in the 6th century, though it is also associated with St. Cronan of Roscrea . the deaths of abbots are recorded for the years 807, 1120, 1138 and 1143, and the monastery seems to have experienced a revival in the 12th century.

Giraldus Cambrensis, the historian of the Norman invasion, describes the place as an island where no woman or animal of the female sex could enter without dying immediately. the monastery be...

A 12th century romanesque church consisting of a nave and chancel. The doorway has been much tampered with (possibly in the 16th century when the innermost order of the doorway was constructed). Over the window above the doorway is a sculptured panel showing the meeting of two people-it may have formed part of the original doorway, as at Freshford. Note the worn heads above the doorway; one is said to represent St. Moling, the founder of the church, and the other is said to be St. Fiacre. Th...