Church

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument No. 114. A church was founded at Timahoe (Teach Mochua) by St. Mochua who died in 657 (Crawford 1924, 31). The saint's feastday is commemorated on the 24th of December (Ó Riain 2011, 469). Round tower (LA018-031005-), castle (LA018-031006-) and graveyard (LA018-031003-) are all that remains of the monastery of Timahoe. Reference to the Penitentiary or Oratory of Tech-Mochua here where in 1096. Gilmurry McDuff the Chief of Hy-Crimhthannan, was killed by Magrath O'More. (O'Hanlon and O'Leary, 1907, vol. 1, 375). The fifteenth century church, to SE of tower, was transformed in the sixteenth century into a tower house (LA018-031006-) (Harbison 1970, 141), probably by one of the Cosbys. The only surviving feature of this church is a large arch (Wth 3.95m), possibly the chancel arch, which was blocked up and incorporated into the E wall of the castle. It is composed of punch-dressed chamfered limestone with evidence of diagonal tooling (Petrie 1845, 234-43; Crawford 1924, 31-42).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 17 December 2007

References

Ó Riain, P. 2011 A dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin. Four Courts Press.

Crawford, H. 1924 The round tower and castle of Timahoe. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 54, 31-45.

Harbison, P. 1970 Guide to the national monuments in the Republic of Ireland. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan.

Petrie, G. 1845 ( 1970 2nd ed.) The ecclesiastical architecture of Ireland, an essay on the origins and uses of the round towers of Ireland. Shannon. Irish University Press.

O'Hanlon, Rev. J. and O'Leary, Rev. E. 1907 (Reprint 1981) History of the Queen's county, vol. 1. Kilkenny. Roberts Books Ltd.