Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Tankardstown (Baile an Tancardaigh/ the town of an Anglo-Norman called Tancard) medieval church dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, stands in the Parish of Tankardstown, medieval Deanery of Athy, medieval Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, Barony of Ballyadams. In undulating countryside 140m W of the River Barrow. Site of Castle (LA026-009001-) 165m to NNW, St Thomas's Well (LA026-009002-) 90m to N. Site of Castle (LA026-010----) 500m to S. In 1533 the church of Tankardstown located in the Deanery of Athy was listed by Archbishop John Alen, as one of the churches in the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, arranged under the ten deaneries. The register listed this church as the 'Ecclesia de Ville Tankardi. Alias Tankardestown' (White 1941, 214). The Latin document stated that the church belonged to the 'canons of St. Thomas in Dublin, whose feast day [December 29] is also St. Thomas [the Martyr]. Whence it was of the land of Osbert Tankard, by the water called Barna [Barrow], on the west side of the water, by consent of the said patron, and by the authority of William [Piro], bishop of Glendalough [1192-1212]' (ibid.; Gilbert 1889, 151-2). The medieval church of Tankardstown formed part of the monastic estate belonging to St Thomas’ Augustinian Abbey (DU018-020051-), Dublin, founded in 1177. Around the year 1200, Osbert, the son of Tankard, granted the church of St Thomas on the west side of the river barrow, with its appurtenances, including the tithes and lands of Tankard's town, in the Queen's county; and the town and lands of Lisclunan, Clumfade, Keneleis, and Ballemaclines, and the carucates of land which did belong to the brothers of James de Brebastrin, and thirteen acres of other lands, besides commonage of pasture for the officiating chaplain of the church. The son of Osbert confirmed this grant (Archdall 1786; Whitelaw and Walsh 1822, 327). In 1540 the Rectory of 'Tankerstone' apart from the curate's stipend was valued at 30s. (White 1943, 38). In 1569, Queen Elizabeth granted a 21 year lease to 'Thomas Stewcley [Stukeley] esq.; of the moiety of the rectory of Donnahannoke and Ballegmone, and the rectory of Tankerdeston, county Kildare, the rectories of Straboo, Rathmore and Moyactone, county Carlow, and Kilcurrie, county Kilkenny, possessions of the late monastery of Thomascourt, Dublin' (Nicholls 1994, 159). Two years later in 1571 the Queen granted; 'Peter or Pierce Hovyndene; of the lands of Curgaraghe, Bealanegare, Clonpyers, Tankardyston alias Ballentankarde, Skeanaghe, and Ballelean, Queen's co. To hold in tail male, by the service of a twentieth part of a knight's fee; rent £5 11s. Maintaining two English horsemen' (ibid., 227). In 1615 the Royal Visitation of the Diocese of Dublin described the building as 'Church ruined' in the Vicarage of 'Tankerdstowne' and that cure of souls was served by Nicholas Walker of Athy (Ronan 1941, 49).
Tankardstown Church with castle (LA026-009001-) to N is depicted on the Down Survey (1654-7) map of Ballyadams Barony (Hib. Reg.). The terrier of the 17th century Down Survey map of Tankardstown parish recorded that; 'There is in Tankardstowne a ruined Castle and Church with some ruined Houses' (NLI, MS 720). Present remains consist of a nave and chancel church (L c. 12.5m, Wth c. 6.1m) built of roughly coursed limestone blocks, with traces of dividing segmental chancel arch. Doorway at W end of S wall. Evidence of window in E gable.
Tankardstown church and castle described in the History of the Queens Count as 'An old castle (LA026-009001-) and a church, with some ruined houses, are marked in Tankardstown Parish, on Sir William Petty's Maps. Within the large townland of Tankardstown, Queen's County, on the west side of the River Barrow, are to be seen the old church, at present in ruins, and within a graveyard (LA026-009003-). Near it is St. Thomas' Well (LA026-009002-). On the north side of it the site of a castle is to be found while about one quarter of a mile to the south, the site of another castle (LA026-010----) may be traced; both of these former erections seem to have been intended to command the passage over the River Barrow' (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1907, vol. 1, 336).

See attached Down Survey map showing the castle and church of Tankardstown, courtesy of the Library of Trinity College Dublin.

See attached plan of church courtesy of Michael Donovan, Athy Cemeteries Committee

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.

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 4 October 2022

References

Gilbert, J.T. 1889 Register of the abbey of St Thomas the Martyr, Dublin, 2 vols. London.

Archdall, M. 1786 Monasticon Hibernicum: or, an history of the abbies, priories, and other religious houses in Ireland. Dublin. Luke White.

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

Nicholls, K.W. (ed.) 1994 The Irish fiants of the Tudor sovereigns during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Philip & Mary, and Elizabeth I, 4 vols. Dublin. Éamonn de Búrca for Edmund Burke Publisher.

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

White, N.B. 1943 Extents of Irish monastic possessions, 1540-1541. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Warburton, J., Whitelaw, W. and Walsh, R. 1818 History of the city of Dublin. 2 vols. London.

Hibernia Regnum: A set of 214 barony maps of Ireland dating to the period AD 1655-59. The original parish maps have been lost but the Hibernia Regnum maps are preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Goblet 1932, v-x). Photographic facsimiles of these maps were published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton in 1908.

NLI, MS 720 – National Library of Ireland, The parish maps of the Down Survey for the Queenes County and the County of Kilkenny by W. Petty attested 1657. Copied by Daniel O'Brien. A set of 70 maps with accompanying terriers, 1786-7. Dublin

White, N.B. 1941 The Reportorium Viride of John Alen, Archbishop of Dublin, 1533. Analecta Hibernica No. 10, 171, 173-222.