Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Described by Toal (1995, no. 964) as follows; 'According to John O'Donovan (1841), the site of an old church was occupied by a modern Protestant one. Nothing is known about St Flann, after whom the church was named, nor is his feast day remembered. No surface trace of this old church can be seen today. The later church is being restored. See also Dooncaha (KE003-037----), Killarida (KE010-047001-), Ardfert Cathedral (KE020-046002-), Listowel (KE010-061----), Lerrig North (KE020-019----), Killeacle (KE020-020001-), Kilgulbin East (KE021-051----), Ballynageragh (KE015-084----), Feeans (KE014-013----)'.

In 2012 a graveyard survey carried out by Laurence Dunne recorded the following details: 'Kilflynn church and graveyard is situated on sloping ground in the centre of the village of Kilflynn. The name Kilflynn-Cill Floinn translates as ‘the church of Saint Flann’ or ‘Floinn’, an early Irish saint of whom there is very little known (O’Donovan 1841, 36). A Holy Well, Toberflyn (KE022-023----), dedicated to the saint is situated circa 0.7km, to the northeast in the townland of Cloonnafinnela. St. Flann is said to have bestowed on the well the power to cure blindness. Ó Danachair records that Toberflyn, Ó Danachair states that the well is visited on the May Eve and is said to have curative powers for sore eyes. Formerly, rags were left as offerings. Some stones nearby are said to be the ruins of St. Flann’s hermitage. The legend recounts that when St. Flann became blind in his old age he did not ask for a cure for himself but gave to the well the power of curing blindness (Ó Danachair 1958,158). Given the early seventh century date for the saint, it is possible that there may have been
an early medieval ecclesiastic enclosure in Kilflynn for which no relict remains survive. The sub-rectangular graveyard of Kilflynn today is small neat and tidy albeit the southwestern corner and southern boundary limits are very overgrown bumpy and unmanaged. In the high medieval period the church was recorded for taxation purposes...Killaquyn church, in Offlannan deanery, in 1302, was called at 13s. 4d for tithes (King 1986, 191).
However, Hickson is of the opinion that Killaquyn was a Hospitaller church and possibly refers to Ballymaquin near Causeway (Hickson 1883, 302). Charles Smith (1756, 39) recorded the church as upstanding and in use in 1756…’Kilflin, vicarial, the church in ruins. Patron: The Earl of Orrery’. The upstanding church today is protestant church which was built in 1811 with a later addition of a bell tower added in 1840. It is surrounded by a graveyard occupied by both Catholic and Protestant burials. St. Columba’s church was restored between 1990-1993 and is now used as a community hall. The building is in good order with forward rib pointing'.

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 13 June 2022

References

O'Donovan, J. 1983 The antiquities of the county of Kerry. Cork. Royal Carbery Books.

Toal, C. 1995 North Kerry Archaeological Survey. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority.

Smith, C. 1756 (Reprint 1969) The ancient and present state of the county of Kerry. Cork. The Mercier Press.

Ó Danachair, C. 1958 The Holy Wells of North County Kerry. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 88, 153-63.

Dunne, L. 2012 Archaeological Survey, Kilflynn Graveyard, Co. Kerry. Unpublished report for The Heritage Office, Kerry County Council (SMR file).

Hickson, M.A. 1880 Notes on Kerry Topography, Ancient and Modern, with Extracts from the Unpublished Desmond Survey and Inquisition (Continued). The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, 349-64.