Church in Townparks (longford By.)

At the SW end of Newtown Forbes, within the W half of a graveyard (LF008-035001-). According to Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 365), this church was built around 1694. The Forbes family records indicate that the first Earl of Granard, who died in 1696, 'built from the foundation the Church of Newtown Forbes, where, in a vault under the Church, he and his family have since been buried' (Hastings 1868, 69). Described by Nicholas Dowdall in 1682 as ‘a fair and Large Church Sumptuously adorned’ (Gillespie and Moran 1991, 208). This church may have been incorporated into the present 19th-century church. There is a 17th-century headstone (LF008-035002-) to the S of it. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 June 2013