Sheastown Church

In a field under pasture, on raised ground overlooking the River Nore which flows NW-SE c. 80m to the E. The church is orientated NE-SW in the N portion of a roughly rectangular graveyard (KK024-001002-).

According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 219), ‘the patron saint is St. Fiachra of Meaux, in France, whose feast occurs on the 30th August’, however, Manning (2012, 139) suggests that the patron saint is more likely to be the St Fiachra who is associated with Ullard, Co. Kilkenny and whose feast day is the 8th of February, a date cited by James Phelan, the 17th-century bishop of Ossory, as the feast day associated with St Fiachra of Kilferagh. In 1192 Kilferagh is mentioned in the confirmation of a grant made between 1181 and 1185 of the land of Kilferagh by Domnall Mac Gilla Pátraic, king of Ossory, to Archbishop John Cumin of Dublin (ibid. 141). Between 1200-1210 a number of churches in Ossory, including Kilferagh, were granted to the Abbey of St Augustine in Bristol, presumably by William Marshal when visiting his Leinster lordship (ibid.). By 1218 the lands of Kilferagh were in dispute between four parties, St Augustine’s in Bristol, the archbishop of Dublin, Jerpoint Abbey and the Avenels, lords of Kilferagh (ibid. 153). The latter two, being locals and thus having the advantage, won the suit, though St. Augustine’s continued to hold the rectory which was not in dispute (153). There are records of the tithes of Kilferagh from the early 14th century to the 15th century (ibid. 142). In the 17th-centuy will of Robert Forstall of Kilfearagh, dated 1645, he requests to be buried, ‘in my parish church of Kilferagh in my auncestors monument’ (ibid. 143).

This church has two main phases, with further modifications in the later medieval period. The original church early church (int. dims. 5.88m x 3.64m; wall T 0.75-0.8m), built around the 10th /early-11th century, with gables in antae (Wth c. 0.8m; D 0.25m) projecting from the E end, became the chancel to a wider nave (int. dims. 16.44m x 6.44m; side walls H c. 4m; T 0.75m; gable H c. 7m originally; T 0.85m) added c. 1200 (Manning 2012, 144). The chancel is built of roughly coursed limestone rubble with original steeply pitched gables (ibid.). The NE anta has broken away from the gable and is currently in a precarious condition (ibid. plate 3). The original E window, of which only the sill survives, was modified in the 15th century and the two opposing side lights were probably also inserted at this time (ibid.). When the nave was added the original W doorway was removed and a semicircular chancel arch (Wth 2.2m) inserted (ibid.). The arch is composed of cut sandstone voussoirs with diagonal tooling, resting on limestone jambs (ibid.). In the 18th/19th century the arch was partly infilled and a flat-headed doorway with timber lintels formed within it, with an iron gate to demarcate the chancel as a burial place of the Shee family (ibid.).

The nave was added onto the W wall of the chancel, at which time the antae were remove to produce a flat internal wall surface on either side of the chancel arch (ibid. 147). The nave is constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble and has putlog holes (ibid.). The N and S wall stand to a height of over 5m, including an upper portion with a parapet added in the 15th century, with a shallow kick-out externally and drainage holes within the course above it (ibid. 148, 151). The W gable survives to a height of 2.5-3m, the upper portion having collapsed by 1905 (ibid. 148). The quoins, except at the SE angle which has cut limestone blocks, consist of rough limestone blocks for the lower portion and well-cut sandstone blocks for the upper part, which Manning (ibid.) suggests may have been because the builders initially used the uncut stones from the demolished antae and only then finished with newly cut sandstone blocks.

The nave was entered via two opposing semicircular sandstone doorways, slightly W of centre in the side walls (ibid.). The S doorway (ext. Wth 1.15m) is wider and was the principal entrance, though the well-cut jambs and voussoirs are plain, with no chamfer or mouldings (ibid.). On the external face, 1.37m above this doorway and slightly off-centre to the E, is a slightly projecting grotesque animal head of Romanesque style (ibid. 148, 150). The doorway embrasure is wider internally (Wth 1.5m) with a rather flat segmental-headed inner arch (ibid. 148). The N doorway (ext. Wth 0.85m) has also plain well-cut jambs and voussoirs with an inner embrasure (Wth 1.1m) with a flat segmental-headed inner arch (ibid.). There is a hole for an iron hinge in the W jamb and a drawbar-hole on the E side (ibid. 148, 151).

The nave was lit by opposing round-headed single-light windows close to the E end (ibid. 148). Only the E jamb and head of the N window survives (ibid.). Both windows are set within a widely splaying embrasure, with a well-cut sandstone rear arch (ibid.). The arches of the doorways, windows and chancel arch all have nib holes at the springing (ibid. 151).

Within the chancel there is a 13th/14th-century graveslab (KK024-001003-) and two 16th-century graveslabs (KK024-001004-; KK024-001005-). Formerly there was also an armorial plaque in the chancel which Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 225) suggested came from Richard Shee's castle of Bonnetstown (KK019-003001-) or from his house in Kilkenny. This was subsequently moved and is currently inserted into a recess on the front façade of the Shee almshouse (KK019-026100-) on Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny Crotty (2009, 195-6, fig. 33). Also moved from the church to the Shee almshouse was part of a door lintel bearing an inscription and described by Carrigan (ibid.) as, 'most probably in some former residence of the Shees, in Sheestown'.