Religious house nunnery - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated just off summit of low hillock on S-facing slope in pasture with good views of the surrounding countryside. According to the Annals, Cill Chéire [Ceall Chéire or Kilkeary] was named after the Virgin Saint Ciar or Cera who died on the 5th of January in the year 679 (O'Donovan 1856, 287). According to Ó Riain (2011, 167) this saint was also known as Ciar Asgadh and Ceara and she was one of three holy virgins of the descendants of Conaire (otherwise the family group known as Múscraighe), the other two being Gobnaid and Sciath daughter of Meachar. The extant medieval church ruins (TN021-074001-) may have been built on the site of an Early Christian church or nunnery founded by St. Ciar or Cera (Gleeson 1952, 132; Gwynn and Gleeson 1962, 89; Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 391). The curving section of the E boundary wall of the graveyard (TN021-074002-) may suggest the presence of an earlier earthen enclosure around the church site and this may indicate the presence of an early Christian enclosure. Alternatively the curving boundary wall may be following the line of an earthen bank that enclosed the graveyard prior to the construction of the stone graveyard wall in the 19th century.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 08 January 2019

References

O'Donovan, J. (ed. and trans.) 1856 Annals of the kingdom of Ireland, by the four masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Dublin. Hodges, Smith and Co.

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

Gleeson, D.F. 1951-2 Churches in the deanery of Ormond. North Munster Antiquarian Journal 6, 96-107, 130-35.

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

Gwynn, A. and Gleeson, D. 1962 A history of the diocese of Killaloe. Dublin. Gill and Macmillan.