Indicated — Unknown Townland

The early 19th century disused St. Mary's Church of Ireland church incorporates the W tower of the medieval nave and chancel parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the royal manor of Crumlin. The church and tower was described by D'Alton as follows; 'In 1818 the commons were enclosed by act of parliament, and in 1819 the church here was rebuilt. It is a neat stone structure, annexed to a more ancient tower in the pointed style' (D'Alton 1838, 699). The parish of Crumlin stood within the manor of Newcastle Lyons and was a prebend of St Patrick’s Cathedral [DU018-020270-] (Foley 2013, 22). Before the death of the archbishop of Dublin, Laurence O’Toole, in 1180, William Brun was granted lands in Killester in north Co. Dublin. One of the witnesses on a couple of the deeds relating to this transaction was Osbert Trussell (Osbert Russell), whose descendants became prominent tenants on the manor of Crumlin and this family eventually adopted the surname Crumlin (ibid. 60). In 1212 William Crumlin paid £16 in pepper for the lands of Crumlin, possibly because he was several years in arrears by this date (ibid. 68). In 1215 the crown recorded a; 'Grant in frankalmoign, for their common use, to the canons of the church of St. Patrick [DU018-020270-], in the suburbs of Dublin, of the church of Crumelin, which the K[ing]. when earl of Morton had given as a prebend to the former church' (Cal. doc. Ire., no. 566, 88). In 1216, William Fitz John of Harptree, held Crumlin who according to Foley (2013, 35) 'is likely that he or perhaps his father held lands on this manor since the time of the invasion or shortly after and appears to have been a descendant of the owners of Richmont Castle in Harptree Coombe in Somerset, England'. At the time of the conquest of Ireland, William Harptree, son of William and grandson of John granted the church of Crumlin to his clerk Robert (ibid.). In 1306 the Ecclesiastical Taxation of the See of Dublin valued the church of 'Cromelyn' at £10 with the tithe valued at 10s. (Cal. doc. Ire., 237). In 1417 'John Giffard, chaplain , had the custody of 30a. arable and four of wood in Crumlin, to hold under the king during pleasure' (D'Alton 1838, 696). In 1495, the court of Crumli recorded that after the death of John Shirofe; 'the said messuages shall remain to the parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Crumlin in pure and perpetual frankalmoign for making and keeping a wax light before the image of the B.V.M. in piety in the aforesaid church forever' (Curtis 1929, 43). In 1592 the Court of Crumlin recorded the following details about Crumlin parish church; 'John Talbot and Hugh Harold, proctors of the parish church of Crumlin, sought a certain rent of 2/6 per annum issuing from divers lands belonging to John Rochford. Inquest is made whether the same rent belongs to the said church and how long it is in arrears. The jurors declare that certain pledges were given from time to time to the proctors of the said church for the said rent by Jenkins Hynde, tenant of said lands, until the said Jenkins was one of the proctors of the said church sixteen years ago. And thenceforward he made default and did not pay the rent as formerly' (ibid., 136-7). In 1593 the Court of Crumlin recorded that; 'On the summons of the proctors of the parish church of this manor, Edmund Basnet on oath declared that he wras for seven years one of the proctors of this church. And, being proctor and notary he had a rent of 2/6 per annum issuing from the lands and tenements of John Rochford by the book of the said church and another ,rental and that it was in arrears. He demanded this arrears from the said John, who replied that it was the debt of his tenant. And when said Edmund, asked Jenkin Heyne, then tenant of the said John for the said lands and tenements, Jenkin replied that it was John Rochford's debt. And further he said that neither himself nor any other proctor during that term when he was proctor received any parcel of the said annual rent' (ibid. 138). The royal visitation of 1615 recorded; 'that the rectory of Crumlin appertained to the minor canons of St. Patrick's, that William Cogan was curate, that the church and chancel, having been covered with lead, were burned in a time of rebellion, and that the parishioners (the whole town having been burned on that occasion) were so poor that they could not yet repair the church' (D'Alton 1838, 698). In 1838 the church was described as follows; 'The church is plain, and without monuments. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners lately granted £79 14s. 11d. for its repairs. In the grave-yard [DU018-038002-] are several ancient tombstones, two to some members of the Deane family of Ravensthorp, in Northamptonshire, and of Pinnock, in Gloucestershire, at the close of the seventeenth century; one to Eliza, daughter of Maurice Cuffe, of the county Clare, who died in 1699; to the Purcells, from 1691' (D'Alton 1838, 693). The present church is entered in the W wall of the W tower through an early 18th-century doorway of Classical style inserted c. 1710. Over the main door of the Church Lies a plaque quoting: "How dreadful is this place, none other is the house of god, and this is the gate of heaven" with a skull and crossbones over the top of it. The bones went missing in the 1990s. It rises three storeys and the exterior is largely plastered (ext. dims. L 5m, Wth 3.6m). At ground floor level an original N doorway has been blocked up externally but survives as an alcove internally with a lintelled head. A spiral stairs in the NW corner survives from first floor level. The first floor is absent. The interior is lit by a narrow double-splayed light in both the N and S walls. A narrow late doorway at this level gives access to the spiral stairs at the W end of the N wall. The irregularity of the walls of the second floor suggest the former existence of vaulting. At second floor level there is a narrow splayed loop in the N and S walls and a rectangular window in the W wall. This has a segmental rear arch and window seats. The roof is vaulted with clear traces of wicker-centering. There are two bell-pull holes in the W part of the vault. The third floor is reached through a doorway off the spiral stairs. There are three large openings with rough flat segmental heads and a smaller lower opening in the E wall at a lower level. The roof is corbelled. Spiral stairs end abruptly at roof level where the parapets are of 19th-century date. A stone wall (1725) encompasses the graveyard which is sub-circular in plan suggesting the existence of a pre-Norman ecclesiastical enclosure. An archaeological assessment in 1998 revealed a ditch outside and concentric to the boundary of the churchyard. No datable finds were recovered from it. Inside the ditch two pits containing burnt material were revealed. They are likely to be of medieval date (Hayden 2000). Further works in 1999 revealed a ditch feature traversing the site from east to west. The ditch possibly represents an outer enclosing element around the medieval churchyard and was purposely infilled in the later medieval period. The present graveyard wall may be indicative of an inner circular enclosure (Murphy 2000, 58). On the angle of the W tower there is a modern carving of a sheela-na-gig which appears to have been inserted into the church tower when the building was being restored. Foley, A. 2013 The royal manors of medieval Co. Dublin : crown and community. Four Courts Press Dublin. See attached photograph courtesy of Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB Ireland) and 17th century Down Survey map of Newcastle and Uppercross barony (Hibernia Regnum). Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 5 January 2022