Church

The National Monuments Service's description

The parish church of St John in the town of Tralee was described in the Urban Survey of County Kerry as follows; 'This was probably a thirteenth century foundation and first referred to in the ecclesiastical taxation of 1302-6, when it was valued at 40s (Sweetman 1875-86 V, p. 296). Little more is known of its history, although a visitation by Bishop Crosbie in 1615 noted that "Trally Church is upp and soe is the Chancell" (Hickson 1874, 27). Hickson (1879-89, 297) suggested that the church was held by the Knights Hospitallers because of its dedication to St. John. There are no contemporary records to confirm this but a document of 1587 noted among the lands allotted to Sir Francis Walshinghan, Edward Denny and their associates "an hospital, sometime parcel of St. John's, Jerusalem, with some small closes near Tralye" (Brewer and Bullen 1868, 451). Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 338) suggest that it may have been a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers.
Description
The church appears to be a 19th century construction but substantial sections of a rectangular building oriented E/W were incorporated into the present edifice. In the west end are two pointed windows and there are four flat lintelled rectangular openings in the west end of the north wall, all of which are now blocked. The north transept, the apse on the south, and the tower to the east are all additions (Denny 1907-9, 363-4)' (Bradley et. al. 1987, 105-6).

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 28 April 2022

References

Brewer, J.S. and Bullen, W. (eds.) 1867-1873 Calendar of the Carew manuscripts preserved in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth. 6 vols. London. HMSO

Sweetman, H.S. (ed.) 1875-86 Calendar of documents, relating to Ireland. Volumes 1-5, 1171-1251. Dublin.

Denny, Rev. H. L. L. 1907-09 Tralee Parish Church. Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead, in Ireland. vol. 7, 363-8.

Hickson, M.A. 1874 Selections from old Kerry records - vol. 2. London. Watson and Hazell.

Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Bradley, J., Halpin, A., and King, H.A. 1987 Urban archaeological survey - county Kerry. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.