Church (in Ruins) — Kilgobbin

Kilgobbin (Cill Ghobáin) parish church ruins stands on a high ridge running E-W, situated on the N slope of Three Rock Mountain on the S side of Kilgobbin Lane, near Stepaside Village. On the 1837 ed. OSi 6-inch map, extensive quarrying of the ridge on which the church stands is visible as a 'Gravel Pit' immediately to the NE, E and SE, with 'Sand Pit' indicated in two areas to the S of the church and graveyard. Kilgobbin Castle (DU025-017001-) stands 485m to the NNE. The 12th-century high cross (DU025-016011-) and bullaun stone (DU025-016012-) stands 35m to the NW. The church and graveyard lies in the present parish of Kilgobbin, in the barony of Rathdown and probably stands on the site of the early Christian monastery (DU025-016----) founded in the 7th-century by St. Gobán. According to Ball (1905, 71); 'The church of Kilgobbin is said to owe its foundation to St. Gobban, whose festival falls on April 1st, and whose name appears in "The Martyrology of Tallaght," as well as in "The Martyrology of Donegal".' The medieval church of Kilgobbin formed part of the estate or prebendary of the Archdeacon of Dublin and belonged to the mother church of Taney [Tawney or Tacheny DU022-016002-] which was the head of a rural deanery containing Kilgobbin chapel and several others (Mason 1820, 44). Between 1250-1303, the valuation of the church of 'Kilgoban', taken from the notes in the register of the archbishop of Dublin, was listed as 12 marks 11 shillings and 6 pence (Mason 1820, lxiv, Table 1). Between 1212-28, 'Kilgoban' is mentioned in the 'Crede mihi' which was the ancient register book of the archbishops of Dublin before the Reformation (Gilbert 1897, 136). The Chapel of Kilgobbin or the 'Capella de Kilgoban' is listed in 1533 in the Reportorium Viride of John Alen, Archbishop of Dublin, where it is listed as one of the chapels in the medieval Deanery of Taney (White 1941, 186). In 1546/7 an Inquisition, into the extent and value of the possessions of the Archdeacon of Dublin, described 'Kilgoban demesne' and its tithes as; 'The demesne lands appertaining to this Rectory, are ii acres of arable land, worth xvid. per annum. The tithes extend over the town-lands of Kilgoban and Jamystown, and are worth, iil. per annum with alterages and oblations, (over and above the Curate's stipend and repair of the Chancel)' (Mason 1820, 46). The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Dublin recorded that in 1640 Sir Adam Loftus of Rathfarnham was in the possession of the lands of Jamestown and Kilgobbin on which there stood 'one Castle thatcht, & a garden plott, & the Walles of a parish Church. The said Buildings are Valued by the Jury at Twenty poundes. The Tithes belong to ye Colledge of Dublin' (Simington 1945, 274). Ball (1905, 71) recorded that; 'When Archbishop King was promoted to the See of Dublin in 1703 he found the parishes of Taney and Cruagh, as well as that of Kilgobbin, unprovided with churches, and at once set about the erection of & church at Kilgobbin, which he intended to serve for the three parishes. The church was completed before 1707, and was served until 1720 by that over-worked man the Rev. Walter Thomas, the curate of Donnybrook. Then it was made a separate charge. For more than thirty years it was served by the Rev. Thomas Gascoyne, and after Gascoyne's death in 1763 the Rev. Mervyn Archdall, the renowned antiquary, was appointed to the cure. Under the Established Church Kilgobbin Church continued to be used until the erection of the present church at Kiltiernan in 1826'. Present remains consists of the ruins of a single cell rectangular church with entrance porch located at the W end of the N wall, and bellcote on the apex of the W gable standing in the W quadrant of Kilgobbin graveyard (DU025-016002-). According to Ball (1902, 69) the present structure was built between 1703-7 to serve the parishes of Taney and Cruagh (Turner 1983, 39-40) and occupies the site of medieval parish church and pre-Norman foundation (Anon 1900, 191). Ó hÉailidhe (1984, 142) described the restoration works on Kilgobbin Church as follows; 'In the autumn of 1983 Dublin County Council commenced a programme of conservation on the church ruin in the ancient burial ground of Kilgobbin on the Enniskerry road. The walls and gables are complete, and it was proposed to re-point the stonework of the building and to demolish and rebuild the porch which was in a dangerous condition'. The fabric of the church was heavily repointed making detailed examination of the original stonework very difficult. The lower courses of the E wall of the church appear to be earlier than the fabric in the upper courses of this wall which may suggest that this is a multi-period structure which was modified or partially rebuilt in the early 18th-century rather than the construction of a new building. The segmental headed bellcote with crenellated top on the W gable along with the alternating long and short quoins on the NW and SW corners and slight base batter all appear to be features typical of a medieval church rather than that of an 18th-century building. The church was entered through a segmental-arched doorway at the W end of the N wall which was covered by a projecting porch with similar segmental-arched doorway in the E wall of the porch. The church was lit by a window in the centre of the E wall which was set into a large embrasure that was blocked up in the post-1700 period. Possible traces of a blocked up window in the W wall but this is uncertain due to extensive repointing of church wall. There may have been two windows in the S wall which are now left as large openings but this is uncertain and there are two similar openings in the N wall. A projecting string course is visible running along the top of the N and S side walls of the church. Inside the church are several private burial plots enclosed by cast-iron railings. Attached to the S face of the N wall of the church interior are eight carved stone fragments identified during restoration work in 1983. These comprise four quernstone fragments, a notched stone, (DU025-016006) two tall granite graveslabs (DU025-016002-) and a graveslab fragment (DU025-016005-). The notched stones may have been used to hold the end of a door frame or as a corbel to hold a rood frame. Attached to the S face of the wall of the interior is another graveslab (DU025-016004-) fragment found during restoration work in the graveyard. Fragment of a cross head (DU025-016007-) was found among a heap of stones inside the church. Attached to the E face of the W wall of the porch are seven architectural fragments (DU025-016008-\009-\010-) at the base of the porch wall. Excavations by Teresa Bolger in 2004 under licence No. 04E1373 to the west and south of Kilgobbin church and graveyard in advance of a housing development identified a complex sequence of enclosures with associated corn drying kilns and field ditches, mostly dating from between AD 650 and 950. Bolger, T. 2007 Kilgobbin, Stepaside; Environs of early ecclesiastical site. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2004: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 156-8, no. 647. Dublin. Wordwell. Bolger, T. 2008. Final report on archaeological excavations at Kilgobbin, County Dublin (Licence No. 04E1373). Unpublished report for Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd. Bolger, T. 2008 Excavations at Kilgobbin Church, Co. Dublin. The Journal of Irish Archaeology, Vol. 17, 85-112. Dublin. Wordwell. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 8 May 2023