Church

The National Monuments Service's description

To NW of centre in a graveyard (KD032-021001-). In 1837, O’Conor, who co-compiled the OSL for County Kildare, recorded, ‘The churchyard in which this church stood lies in Usk townland [actually lies just outside Usk’s townland boundary, in the townland of Brewel West – no church or graveyard is recorded in Usk.], and is used as a burial ground. It is doubted among the people whether there ever was a church within it, or not, as there are no vestiges of one at present to be seen there, a tradition, however, exists that there was formerly a chapel within this graveyard, and we have on the authority of Archdall, where in his Monasticon, he speaks of the Nunnery of Timolin (KD036-025002-), that ‘William Piro’ who was made bishop of Glendaloch (sic) in 1192, as a further endowment to this Nunnery (i.e. of Timolin) did grant the Church of Uske and its chapels in the rural deanery of Tristledermot’ (Herity 2002, 95-6 [26-7]). According to Ronan (1941a, 53), ‘The Calf family (Vitallus, Veale) got the lands [of Ecclesia de Huske] in early Anglo-Norman times, … .’. In 1630, the church and chancel were described as ‘ruinous … [with] not above seven persons that frequent the church to heare divine service.’ (Ronan 1941b, 96). The levelled remains of a rectangular structure (int. 20.2m ESE-WNW; 6.2m NNE-SSW) are defined by a low stony bank (int. H 0.1m; Wth 2.8m; ext. H 0.6m) along the W side, and elsewhere by low scarps (H 0.4-0.5m) along the N and E sides, where the interior is lower than outer ground level, and by a higher scarp (H 1.8m) along the W, where the interior is higher than outer ground level.

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy

Date of upload: 18 October 2013

References

Herity, M. (ed.) 2002 Ordnance Survey Letters Kildare. Dublin. Four Masters Press.

Ronan, M.V. 1941 Archbishop Bulkeley's Visitation of Dublin, 1630. Archivium Hibernicum 8, 56-98.

Ronan, M.V. 1941 Royal Visitation of Dublin, 1615. In Archivium Hibernicum 8, 1-55.