Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Kilbannivane (Cill Bhanbháin) Church in the parish of Castleisland, in the diocese of Ardfert, barony of Trughanacmy was listed as 'Kilbannan' in the 1302-07 papal taxation of the Deanery of Hac [nye], diocese of Ardfert, where the church was valued at 6s. 8d. per annum with the tithe valued at 8d. (Cal. doc. Ire. vol. 5, 296). Medieval church ruins described in 1841 as 'Of the old Church of Cill Banbhan only fragments of the N. and S. walls remain. It's length cannot be determined but its breath is 17 ft. 10 ins. [5.43m] on the inside and the walls are two ft. 10 ins. [0.86m] thick and at present 7 ft. [2.1m] high. Doorway on S. wall of cut limestone, pointed and measures outside 4 ft. 7 ins. [1.4m] high, 3 ft. 2 ins. [0.96m] wide' (OSNB; OSL; O'Donovan 1983, 76). Church ruins described by Dunne (2012, 3) as; 'Today the two walls of the church are low, denuded but traceable. However, much of the surviving visible masonry is tumbled and fallen while the interior is a mass of untended graves and loose stone'.

See attached plan and photographs courtesy of Laurence Dunne

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne

Date of upload: 22 April 2022

References

OSL - Ordnance Survey Letters. Letters written by members of the Ordnance Survey's 'Topographical Department' (T. O'Conor, A. O'Curry, E. Curry, J. O'Donovan and P. O'Keeffe) sent to headquarters from the field (1834-41). MSS in Royal Irish Academy.

OSNB - Ordnance Survey Name Books. Pro-forma books arranged by Civil Parish for recording townland and other name-forms and compiled in the course of the OS 6-inch survey 1824-1841. The name books also include minor names and incidental references to antiquities. National Archives of Ireland.

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

Cal. doc. Ire. - Calendar of documents relating to Ireland 1171-1307, ed. H.S. Sweetman (5 vols., London, 1875-86).

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 Unpublished report for The Heritage Office, Kerry County Council (SMR file).