Abbey Church

Situated on a slight knoll on the N bank of the River Suir. The parish church of Kilculliheen is within a large subrectangular graveyard (WA009-008001-) (dims. c. 75m NE-SW; c. 70m NW-SE), and it is the possible site of an Arroasian convent founded as a priory of St Mary de Hogges (Dublin) by Dermot Mac Murrough in 1151. It had become an abbey by 1257 and was suppressed in 1540 at which time the church was parochial. Other buildings at that time included a belfry, hall, dormitory, four chambers, kitchens and a granary (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 319). No trace of these buildings or the church survive, and there is no idication of an antiquity. The present C of I church was built in 1820 (Lewis 1837, vol. 2, 77). (Burke 1902) Burke, Rev. W. P. (1902) The nunnery at Kilculliheen, WAJ 8, 9-17. Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R. N. (1970) (reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses in Ireland. Irish Academic Press, Dublin. Lewis, S. (1837) A topographical dictionary of Ireland. 2 vols. Lewis and Co. London. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 23 December 2008