St. Kieran's Church

Within a roughly rectangular graveyard (KK027-029010-). Kells priory (KK027-029004-) lies c. 120m to the N and the medieval settlement of Kells lies to the NW and S of the church. Portion of an effigial tomb (KK027-029011-) has been inserted in the external face graveyard wall, at the S end of the W wall.

Graves (1866, 492) notes that the, ‘parish church of St. Kieran of Kells was in existence before Geoffrey De Marisco founded a monastery here, in the year 1183, in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This we learn from the fact recorded in the “Registrum Caenobii S. Mariae de Kenlis,” viz., that, because there were not any Canons Regular then to be found in Ireland, De Marisco appointed the four priests who officiated in the church of St. Kieran of Kells to discharge to the office of Canons in the newly founded monastery until he was able to provide himself with others (“Monast. Anglican.,” p. 1142). The rectory of St. Kieran of Kells must have been about this time appropriated to the monastery. It appears to be so appropriated in the Confirmation Charter granted by Henry IV., on the 8th of February, in the thirteenth year of his reign; wherein, amongst other possessions, the King confirms the Prior and Convent of the Blessed Mary of Kells in Ossory in the right, title, and possession which they have in the church of St. Kieran, otherwise called the chapel of their said founder (“Rot. Pat. 13 Hen. IV.,” 53). The rectory remained appropriate to the monks till the dissolution of the Priory, when it was found by inquisition to be part of their possessions (“Monast. Hibern.,” p. 365).

Clyne (2007, 19-20) suggests that the pre-Anglo-Norman church of St Kieran stood where the ruinous church now stands and that it was at the centre of an early medieval ecclesiastical enclosure (KK027-029019-). Clyne (ibid. 20), noted that carved and worked sandstone blocks were reused in the post-medieval fabric of St Kieran’s and that there are two fragments with chevron and lozenge motifs, originally from a doorway, chancel arch or window, incorporated into the exterior jamb of a N window (second from W).

Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 56) describes the, ‘old parish church of Kells’ as being, ‘used as a Protestant place of worship till about 1850, when it was deserted; it is now a ruin. The eastern portion of the building is modern. The western end, the walls of which are fully three feet [0.91m] thick, dates from before the Reformation; as all its characteristic features have, however, been destroyed, it is now impossible to form any idea of its exact date’. He notes that, ‘Down to the Norman Invasion, St. Kieran, of Saighir, was patron of Kells parish and parish church; soon after the old patron was laid aside, and both parish and church were dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross’ (ibid.).

Following the dissolution of the monastery the prior, Nicholas Tobin, became the curate of Kells in the parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Clyne 2007, 512; Fiants vol. 1, 20 no. 139). Clyne (ibid.) suggests that, at least initially, the nave of the priory church was used as the parish church. This is based on the extents of the monasteries following the dissolution in 1540 which lists the church and cemetery of the Priory of Kells and states that, 'this church has from time immemorial been the parish church (White 1943, 188). However, at some point, perhaps in the 17th century it was decided to reuse St Kieran’s church and certainly in 1668 it was in use at the union of parishes (ibid., footnote 1). Alterations in red brick were carried out in the windows and a bellcote was built above the W gable in the 17th or 18th century (ibid.). The church was in use until a new church, St Mary’s, was built in 1844, c. 150m to the ESE and on the opposite side of the road (ibid.).

The W wall of the graveyard runs N and S from the W gable of the church. The external W gable is composed of roughly coursed rubble with cut-stone quoins visible at the SW angle, though much of the stonework on the external gable is obscured by render. The church (overall ext. dims. c. 26m E-W; chancel c. 8.7m; c. 10m N-S at W end; c. 8m at the E end) is accessed via stone steps which lead up to a round-headed doorway in the centre of the W gable. This gable is surmounted by a single wide bellcote, with round-headed ope. The top of the rectangular bellcote has a decorative finish with a low central and flanking piers, the central one being surmounted by a pyramidal finial. The external face of the S wall is heavily ivy clad.

Reference:

Graves, Rev. J. 1864-6 Proceedings and papers. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 8, 491-2.