Ecclesiastical enclosure, Downings, Co. Kildare

Co. Kildare |

Ecclesiastical Sites

Ecclesiastical enclosure, Downings, Co. Kildare

On a low, north-facing slope in County Kildare, a large D-shaped earthwork quietly encloses more than a thousand years of religious activity. The enclosure, roughly 88 metres across its northeast to southwest axis, is defined by a low earthen bank, a shallow external fosse, and a modern stone wall that has been built against and sometimes on top of the older earthwork. Inside it sit a medieval parish church, a graveyard, a cross-inscribed stone, a fragment of a baptismal font, and the unlocated remains of what tradition identifies as a saint's cell. To the north, the ground falls away towards a wide tract of bog, the kind of peripheral, liminal landscape that early Irish monastics tended to favour.

The association with St Farnan, a figure placed in the 6th century, was recorded by Comerford in 1886. The cell attributed to him has not been physically located within the enclosure, but the broader complex carries the layered logic typical of early Irish ecclesiastical sites, where a founder's modest retreat gradually accumulated later structures around it. Early ecclesiastical enclosures in Ireland were often roughly circular or oval earthworks, marking the sacred boundary of a monastic community, and the D-shaped form here, with its straight northwest side, is consistent with that tradition. A holy well dedicated to St Farnan survives about 450 metres to the west-southwest. By the medieval period the site had become a parish church, and in 1627 it appears in a Royal Grant to Sir Maurice Eustace, recorded by Tickell in 1960. A ringfort also lies around 200 metres to the east, a reminder that the wider landscape was already organised and inhabited when the ecclesiastical site was established.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Ecclesiastical enclosure, Downings, Co. Kildare. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement