Church in Feighcullen

According to the OSL (Herity 2002, 68 (201)), 'The Parochial church (KD017-009003-) stands on the site of the old church' (KD017-009001-). The 19th century Parochial church stands in a graveyard (KD017-009003-) in the W sector of a possible early ecclesiastical enclosure (KD017-009004-) which lies in a possible medieval field system (KD017-009002-). Church described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) as a; 'Detached five-bay double-height single-cell Board of First Fruits Church of Ireland church, built 1829, on a rectangular plan with single-bay two-stage engaged tower (west) on a square plan supporting octagonal spire. Now disused. A church erected to designs by John Semple (1801-82) of Dublin (Craig 1990, 146-7) representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century built heritage of County Kildare with the architectural value of the composition, 'a small but handsome structure' recalling the Semple-designed Saint Tiernan's Church (Kilternan) (1824-6) and Whitechurch Church (Whitechurch) (1825-7) in County Dublin, confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form, aligned along a liturgically-correct axis; the construction in a rough cut limestone offset by sheer dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship; the slender profile of the openings underpinning a "medieval" Georgian Gothic theme with the chancel defined by a cusped "East Window"; and the polygonal spire embellishing the roofline as a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape' (NIAH Reg. No. 11901706; https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11901706/feighcullen-church-feighcullen-feighcullen-kildare). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 21 July 2021