Templetown Church

Situated on a fairly level landscape at the head of a small E-W valley opening out to the W where a small strand at the base of cliffs (H c. 20m) and the estuary of the Barrow/Nore/Suir are c. 400m distant. It is also on the W side of a N-S road. The remains of the fortified parish church of Templetown are within a rectangular graveyard (dims c. 60m N-S; c. 40m E-W) defined by masonry walls at N and E and earthen banks and hedges at W and S.

A preceptory of the Knights Templar known as Kilcloggan is traditionally said to have been founded by O'More of Laois in the late 12th century (Redmond 1900, 220-5; Gywnn and Hadcock 1970, 330), but is more likely to have been based on a grant of the church of St. Alloch made by Henry II in 1172 (Colfer 2002, 196). The grant comprised the parishes of Hook and Templetown. Allock or Eallóg (Doologe) was a son of Díona, daughter of a Saxon king, and Brachan, a Welsh king (Ó Rian 2011, 280-1). The name Kicloggan is a corruption of Cill Eallóg – Alloch’s church - so there may have been an earlier church at the location (Culeton 1999, 128-9). When the Templars were suppressed after 1312, much of their property, including Kilcloggan, was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem. The Hospitallers probably established the centre of their manor at Kilcloggan castle (WX049-004001-), c. 1.2km to the NNE, in the 15th century. (Colfer 2004, 47-50)

A comprehensive inventory of the Templars’ chattels at Kilcloggan in 1307 survives, but it does not detail their land-holding or the buildings (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 276-8). Amongst the religious items ‘in the church’ were a missal worth 20 shillings, an antiphonary or hymn book worth 5 shillings, a goblet – 22 shillings, books, and vestments (Colfer 2004, 56).

The old church has disappeared, but it is described by John O’Donovan writing c. 1840 as having three pointed windows in its E gable (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 114) and it was situated S of the surviving tower (ext. dims 7.08m E-W; 5.27m N-S). In the tower there are blocked round headed doorways of undressed stone in the W and S walls at ground floor level, which has an E-W barrel-vault. A newel stairs at the SE corner rises to the first floor where an opening in the E wall may have led to the wall-walk of the N wall of the church. The stairs do not continue but the walls are rebated to support the floor of the second floor. A portion of a barrel-vault against the W wall over the second floor is the only original feature at this level.

The tower was altered c. 1830 with the insertion of a ground floor entrance at N together with a passage running N to the Church of Ireland church that was built at that time but it is now a roofless shell. This church has three lancet windows in its E and W gables to reflect those of the original building. A fireplace was inserted on the ground floor of the tower at the NW angle, four large openings at the second floor were inserted or expanded, and modern crenellations added above. A drawing made by du Noyer from the W (c. 1850) shows both the old and new churches (Colfer 2004, 60, Fig. 48).

A D-shaped bullaun stone (dims 0.47m x 0.33m) of conglomerate with a single basin (diam. 0.18m; D 8cm) is set in the ground inside the entrance stile of the graveyard. A limestone graveslab (dims 1.7m x 0.38-0.63m) with an incised cross that has three fleur-de-lys terminals and a chamfered edge is in the graveyard just S of the tower. This has a raised Agnus Dei – Lamb of God – symbol at the foot of the cross. The Agnus Dei was a symbol frequently used by the Knights Templar. The ringwork site (WX049-007----) is c. 150m to the W.