Killoughternane Church

Killoughternane Church
The White Church
Cill Fhoirtchearnáin
Killoughternane Church
52°38′02″N 6°51′13″W / 52.6339°N 6.8536°W / 52.6339; -6.8536Coordinates: 52°38′02″N 6°51′13″W / 52.6339°N 6.8536°W / 52.6339; -6.8536
Location Killoughternane, Borris,
County Carlow, Ireland
Country Ireland
Denomination Pre-Reformation Catholic
History
Founded 10th century AD
Founder(s) Saint Fortcheirn
Architecture
Functional status In ruins
Heritage designation National Monument
Style Celtic
Specifications
Length 5.5 metres (18 ft)
Width 3.5 metres (11 ft)
Number of floors 1
Floor area 19 square metres (200 sq ft)
Materials granite
Administration
Parish Myshall and Drumphea
Diocese Kildare and Leighlin

Killoughternane Church is a 10th-century Celtic Christian church located in County Carlow, Ireland. It was built on the remains of a timber church said to have been built by Fortiarnán (Fortchern, Fortcheirn) in the 5th century AD.

Location

Killoughternane Church is located in southern County Carlow, northwest of Mount Leinster and about 6 km northeast of Borris.

The building

The church is made of local hammer-dressed granite, with walls 80 cm (2⅔ ft) thick. A baptismal font is in one corner, and there are antae on either side.[1][2] Archaeological work showed evidence of a Neolithic burial ground.[3]

St. Fortcheirn's Well

A holy well and altar stand across the road. Formerly pilgrims came from County Wexford across the Blackstairs Mountains seeking miraculous cures. In the 19th century a chalice (called the Braganza Chalice, after the bishop's house in Carlow)[4][5] and paten, both of silver inlaid with gold, were found hidden in the well. The chalice bore an inscription dating to 1595 and is believed to have been hidden during the Penal era when Irish Catholicism was repressed.[6] Both are held at the parochial house in Muine Bheag.[7]

References

  1. "Bicentenary Booklet – Ballinkillen Church". bagenalstownparish.ie. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  2. "Braganza Villa, Carlow". rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
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