Grange Upper Church
Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0
Church

Grange Upper Church

Church ruin in the townland of Grange Upper, Co. Kilkenny.

  • AccessNot confirmed
  • National MonumentNot recorded
  • DateNot stated
  • FolkloreNone recorded
  • PhotoWikimedia Commons
Grange Upper, Co. Kilkenny52.61535, -7.03629
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Unofficial guide. Not the National Monuments Service, the OPW, Fáilte Ireland or the landowner. Disclaimer

At a glance

  • TypeChurch
  • Recorded sizeint. 16m E-W x 7m N-S

What to look for

  • East window
  • Graveyard

Picked out from the Archaeological Survey description below.

Can you visit?

  • No source says it is open to the public.Most monuments in Ireland stand on private farmland.
  • Ask the landowner before crossing fields, close gates, leave the stones as you find them.Visiting responsibly
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History and description

Midway down a N-facing slope with good views from NW-W-SW. Centrally placed within a rectangular graveyard (KK025-002002-) is a heavily ivy-clad rectangular church (int. dims. 16m E-W x 7m N-S), orientated roughly E-W, constructed of roughly coursed limestone and granite. All the walls (T c. 1.2m) are upstanding (E gable H 1.2m) with the exception of the N wall which survives only to its foundations in places.

Full archaeological record 244 words

Midway down a N-facing slope with good views from NW-W-SW. Centrally placed within a rectangular graveyard (KK025-002002-) is a heavily ivy-clad rectangular church (int. dims. 16m E-W x 7m N-S), orientated roughly E-W, constructed of roughly coursed limestone and granite. All the walls (T c. 1.2m) are upstanding (E gable H 1.2m) with the exception of the N wall which survives only to its foundations in places. The church was entered through a round-headed doorway of roughly cut granite at the W end of the S wall. The visible windows include a flat-headed single-light window at the E end of the S wall and a chamfered limestone two-light window at attic level in the W gable. At the E end of the S wall there is an unusual semi-circular bowl-shaped granite piscina (dims. 0.3m x 0.2m; H 0.2m) which projects out of the wall. The upper surface of the piscina is concave with fluting which runs into a circular drainage channel in the wall. There is an aumbry (dims. 0.5m x 0.4m; D 0.3m) with granite surrounds W of the piscina. Within the nave area of the church there is a font (KK025-002003-) and a free-standing octagonal limestone stoup (H 0.5m; max. Wth 0.4m tapering to 0.25m; T of rim 0.5m; circular bowl diam. 0.17m; D 0.13m), which tapers towards the top and bottom. The middle, or widest point, of the stoup is decorated in false relief with a band of crudely executed interlace.

Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service (CC BY 4.0) · Compiled by Jean Farrelly · Updated 23 February 2022. It describes the site as it was when surveyed.

More ancient churches nearby

Also recorded nearby

Named sites within 5 km with only a short entry in the Archaeological Survey.

  • ToberkyleRitual site - holy well · Gorteen (Gowran By.) · 3.9 km · official record

    Indicated as 'Toberkyle' in Gothic script on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and on the 1900 revision.

  • TobernadeanRitual site - holy well · Pollagh (Gowran By.) · 4.6 km · official record

    In a small wooded area. Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map and the 1900 revision as 'Tobernavean', with a stream running eastward from the well.

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      Around Grange Upper Church

      Other heritage nearby

      Recorded within 5 km

      Walks and trails

      • East Kilkenny Cycle RouteRoad Cycling Trail · 62.6 km · nearest point 2.4 km
      • Barrow WayLong Distance Waymarked Way · 117.0 km · nearest point 4.4 km
      • The Columban Way - St Mullins Feeder (River Route)Pilgrim Path · 30.9 km · nearest point 6.1 km

      Outdoors, towns and places to stay

      • GowranWalled towns · 2.5 km
      • ThomastownWalled towns · 12 km

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