Catholic Church of Saint John the Baptist

Detached four-bay double-height Catholic church, built 1817, on a cruciform plan comprising two-bay double-height nave opening into single-bay (single-bay deep) double-height transepts centred on single-bay double-height chancel to crossing (south). Renovated, ----, with sanctuary reordered. Replacement pitched artificial slate roof on a cruciform plan with lichen-spotted ridge tiles, slightly sproketed eaves, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards on box eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined walls on rendered chamfered plinth with rusticated rendered quoins to corners. Lancet window openings with drag edged cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass roundels. Tudor-headed door opening to entrance (north) front with flight of seven steps, "bas-relief" surround having chamfered reveals with hood moulding framing timber panelled double doors having overpanel. Lancet window opening (gable) with drag edged cut-limestone sill, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fitting having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass roundels. Full-height interior with vinyl tiled central aisle between timber pews, paired Gothic-style timber stations between stained glass windows (----), pair of cut-white marble wall monuments (----; ----), and stepped dais to sanctuary to crossing (south) reordered, ----, with arcaded communion railing centred on cut-veined white marble altar. Set in landscaped grounds with roughcast-panelled piers to perimeter having Cross finial-topped shallow pyramidal capping supporting cast-iron double gates.

A church erected under the aegis of Reverend James Henneberry (1772-1834; cf. 12401408; 12403902) representing an integral component of the early nineteenth-century ecclesiastical heritage of County Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition, one showing the hallmarks of a period of construction coinciding with the gradual dismantling of the Penal Laws in anticipation of the Roman Catholic Relief Act, 1829, suggested by such attributes as the traditional cruciform plan form, aligned along a liturgically-incorrect axis; and the slender profile of the openings underpinning a "medieval" Georgian Gothic theme. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior reordered (----) in accordance with the liturgical reforms sanctioned by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (1962-5) where contemporary joinery; stained glass; wall monuments; and a modified altar, all highlight the modest artistic potential of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural village street scene.