Saint Finan's Church
Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0
Church

Saint Finan's Church

Medieval church ruin in Gorteenara, Co. Kilkenny.

  • AccessNot confirmed
  • National MonumentNot recorded
  • DateNot stated
  • FolkloreNone recorded
  • PhotoWikimedia Commons
Gorteenara, Co. Kilkenny52.81945, -7.33537
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Unofficial guide. Not the National Monuments Service, the OPW, Fáilte Ireland or the landowner. Disclaimer

At a glance

  • TypeChurch
  • Recorded size 11.5m E-W x 5.8m N-S

What to look for

  • Nave and chancel
  • 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

On a low hill in pasture; view obscured by rising ground at N and E. Situated at the NE end of a sub-triangular graveyard (KK005-011002-) which overlies an earlier enclosure (KK005-011003-). The church is dedicated to St Finian, though the ‘pattern’ of Kilminan was held in August, which is not the saint’s feast day, until it was suppressed around 1810 (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 105-6).

Full archaeological record 268 words

On a low hill in pasture; view obscured by rising ground at N and E. Situated at the NE end of a sub-triangular graveyard (KK005-011002-) which overlies an earlier enclosure (KK005-011003-). The church is dedicated to St Finian, though the ‘pattern’ of Kilminan was held in August, which is not the saint’s feast day, until it was suppressed around 1810 (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 105-6). A nave and chancel church with external base-batter which is constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble, with larger blocks employed at base and quoins. The N, S walls and ivy-clad W gable of the nave (dims. 11.5m E-W x 5.8m N-S) are well preserved, but only the foundations of the chancel (dims. 7m x 4.1m) survive as low mounds. The tie-stones for the side walls of the chancel project (N wall L 0.8m; S wall L 1.4m) from the external E wall of the nave. Also, the lower portion of the chancel arch survives to springer level (H 2m). There are two doorways in the nave, one at the W end of the S wall of which none of the cut-stone surround survives, only the voussoirs above suggesting a pointed opening. Opposite in the N wall there is a pointed doorway with no cut stone. Both doorways have internal draw-bar holes. The nave was lit by a window at the E end of the S wall, broken out, within a round-headed embrasure, a window in the N wall, the head of which is obscured by ivy, and a centrally placed, flat-headed window in the W gable. The church and graveyard are privately owned.

Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service (CC BY 4.0) · Compiled by Jean Farrelly · Updated 26 April 2017. It describes the site as it was when surveyed.

Folklore and traditions

More ancient churches nearby

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      Around Saint Finan's Church

      Other heritage nearby

      Recorded within 5 km

      Walks and trails

      • Durrow Leafy Long LoopWalking Trail · 20.1 km · nearest point 3.3 km
      • Durrow Leafy Loop ShortWalking Trail · 14.4 km · nearest point 3.4 km
      • North Kilkenny Cycle RouteRoad Cycling Trail · 80.5 km · nearest point 4.6 km

      Outdoors, towns and places to stay

      • Dunmore WoodForests · 5.5 km
      • CapponellanForests · 6.3 km
      • Grantstown Wood and Grantstown Lough Nature ReserveNature reserves · 13 km
      • Coolacurragh Wood Nature ReserveNature reserves · 13 km
      • Clomanatagh CastleHistoric stays · 15 km

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