Site of St Brides Church — Fieldstown

Situated on the grounds of Fieldstown House north of the Broadmeadow River. Medieval chapel site dedicated to St Catherine described in 1887 as; 'so called from the Norman family of De la Field, who were granted the lands early in the 13th century. The chapel was dedicated to St Catherine, Virgin and Martyr. It is just possible to trace the outlines of the foundations of the ancient chapel in the middle of a burying-ground, situated in what was once the demesne of the original Norman proprietors. The burying ground seems to have been unused for a long time; it is crowded with great forest trees. The last mention of the chapel is by Archbishop Jones ( A.D. 1615 ), who states it was then a ruin. When Mr. Austin Cooper visited the place in 1784, walls of the church were standing' (Walsh 1888, 246-7). In 1474 'Nicholas Dovedale, Prebendary of Clonmethan [DU007-006001-], in a petition preferred by him to Parliament, 14th Edw. IV. stated, that divers persons, aliens, strangers and denizens, did frequent in considerable numbers, by way of pilgrimage, the chapel of St. Catherine the Virgin and Martyr of F[i]eldstown, which was appropriated and annexed to the Prebend of Clonmethan, being for the health and safety of their souls and accomplishment of their petitions and prayers, he complained, had been, at divers times, vexed and molested on divers pretences, by reason of which they were obliged to lay aside said devotions and pilgrimages; this was a case, that peculiarly interested the feeling of such an assembly at that time; the Parliament accordingly ordained, that the persons and properties of all such pilgrims should, during their pilgrimage, be under the protection of the King, nor should the person of any such be arrested on any writ or authority whatever for debt, treason, felony or trespass, until said pilgrimage should be accomplished provided, that during their going thither, dwelling there and returning they did behave peaceably to the King's liege subjects; they ordained likewise, that any officer who should vex or arrest the persons, or molest the houses of such pilgrims, contrary to this statute, should forfeit, for every such offence, the sum of twenty pounds' (Mason 1820, 53-4). In 1546/7 an Inquisition held at Swords recorded the following details about Fieldstown Chapel; 'The tithes of this chapel are payable out of the town-land of Feldston, and are of the yearly value of ivl. ivd. beside alterages and iiil. vis. viiid. annually arising out of the chapel, which are assigned to the Curate there for his stipend' (ibid.). In 1615, the Royal Visitation of Dublin recorded that in the Deanery of Garristown, there was the church of Fieldstown served by the curate Thomas Richmond, minister and preacher and the building was described as church and chancel' (Ronan 1941, 24). The remains comprise a raised oval area (45m E-W) defined by a bank and external fosse best defined to the north. The foundations of a church, dedicated to St Catherine, was visible as a grassed over mound (ext. dims. L 18.8m E-W x 6m N-S; Wall H 0.6m) in the 1992 report but there has since been intense tree planting and overgrowth. Remains of an earlier field system (DU011-002003-) defined by scarps and ditches lie to the north, east and west. The chapel of St Catherine was a place of pilgrimage until 1555 when devotions were laid aside due to 'persons have been at divers times vexed and molested'. The church was ruinous by 1615 (Donnelly 1917, 153). Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Updated by: Christine Baker Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 26 March 2023