Kilbannivane Church (in ruins)

Kilbannivane (Cill Bhanbháin) Church in the parish of Castleisland, in the diocese of Ardfert, barony of Trughanacmy was listed as 'Kilbannan' in the 1302-07 papal taxation of the Deanery of Hac [nye], diocese of Ardfert, where the church was valued at 6s. 8d. per annum with the tithe valued at 8d. (Cal. doc. Ire. vol. 5, 296). Medieval church ruins described in 1841 as 'Of the old Church of Cill Banbhan only fragments of the N. and S. walls remain. It's length cannot be determined but its breath is 17 ft. 10 ins. [5.43m] on the inside and the walls are two ft. 10 ins. [0.86m] thick and at present 7 ft. [2.1m] high. Doorway on S. wall of cut limestone, pointed and measures outside 4 ft. 7 ins. [1.4m] high, 3 ft. 2 ins. [0.96m] wide' (OSNB; OSL; O'Donovan 1983, 76). Church ruins described by Dunne (2012, 3) as; 'Today the two walls of the church are low, denuded but traceable. However, much of the surviving visible masonry is tumbled and fallen while the interior is a mass of untended graves and loose stone'. See attached plan and photographs courtesy of Laurence Dunne Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne Date of upload: 22 April 2022

Kilbannivane Church, dedicated to St. Banbhan, was likely built in the early medieval period, with references dating back to the early 14th century. It is a small rural church that reflects the ecclesiastical structure of the diocese of Ardfert and highlights the continuity of Christian worship in the region.