Killeshandra Old Church Co Cavan.
Killeshanrda means 'church of the rath' and, to the far side of this view, the curved ramparts of the original circular rath can still be made out. A medieval church was recorded here in the fifteenth century and this was extended and renovated in the late seventeenth century by Sir Francis Hamilton, who's father was granted the area and laid out the nearby town in the Ulster Plantation. The T shaped church is very interesting with two long thin barrel vaulted rooms separated by a heavy stone wall inside the projecting entrance transept. The Hamilton arms are high on the entrance gable and are flanked with Renaissance style round headed windows. To either side of the transept are crude flying buttresses topped by historic brick, which give the church a unique character. The congregation moved out to a new parish church in the town in 1837 and a number of Victorian mausoleums were constructed inside the ruins of the old building. The building has been conserved to a high standard over recent years by Blackwood Associated Architects and when visited a new double pile metal roof was being inserted to conserve the historic barrel vaults. Well worth a detour.
Killeshanrda means 'church of the rath' and, to the far side of this view, the curved ramparts of the original circular rath can still be made out. A medieval church was recorded here in the fifteenth century and this was extended and renovated in the late seventeenth century by Sir Francis Hamilton, who's father was granted the area and laid out the nearby town in the Ulster Plantation. The T shaped church is very interesting with two long thin barrel vaulted rooms separated by a heavy stone wall inside the projecting entrance transept. The Hamilton arms are high on the entrance gable and are flanked with Renaissance style round headed windows. To either side of the transept are crude flying buttresses topped by historic brick, which give the church a unique character. The congregation moved out to a new parish church in the town in 1837 and a number of Victorian mausoleums were constructed inside the ruins of the old building. The building has been conserved to a high standard over recent years by Blackwood Associated Architects and when visited a new double pile metal roof was being inserted to conserve the historic barrel vaults. Well worth a detour.
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