Fenit Church (in ruins) — Fenit Within

Fenit church was described in 1841 as follows; 'There was an old church on the Island of Fenit, a short distance to the South West of the castle [KE028-001----]. It is destroyed to the foundation, and there is no burial at it. It was constructed with lime stone mixed with some brown stone as appears from the foundation of the walls. Whether there was lime used in the cement or not, is not now easy to discern. In a bit of the South wall, two or three feet high, which remains next East end no lime is observable in the cement. The thicknesss of this bit is three feet six inches [1.06m]. The length of the Church was thirty seven feet six inches [11.4m] and the breadth was fifteen feet [4.57m]' (OSL). Folklore collected from Chapeltown (Baile na hEaglaise) School recorded the following tradition; 'This is the remains of an ancient church [KE028-023001-]. It is situated about 200 yds inland and south-west of the Castle [KE028-001----] in Fenit Island. It is marked on the Ordnance Survey Map. I took measurements of it which are as follows:- Length 44 feet exterior. Breadth 22 feet exterior. Thickness of walls 3 ft. Stone is local. No mortar - mud and stone walls. The walls are now only 2 or 3 ft. high in places and the interior is covered with briars and refuse and seemed to have originally been a good deal lower than the level of the land outside. The field in which it is situated is called "The Church Field." and belongs to Thomas McCarthy. This old church and its surroundings occupies about 1/4 of an English acre in the corner of a big field. Around the ruin are numbers of rough stones standing on end, most likely a burial ground [KE028-023003-]. Until quite lately they buried unbaptised children in the graveyard. Hollows in the ground nearby would indicate there were other buildings also close to the church proper. The 1/4 acre in which the ruin and graveyard are were never tilled and never will be. Tradition connects this church with St. Brendan. In ancient times two large villages were in Fenit Island - one in the west in a place called Cuan Eamuin [?] and another in the east near where the old mill is indicated on the map. No trace of these exists today only the ruins which are occasionally turned up by the plough. The Teampaillín would thus be centrally situated between both villages. This old church had no connection with the Castle near which it is situated, it was old when the castle was built about 1650'(The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0438, Page 270-1; https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4706321/4702383) '. Church and burial ground described in 1989 as follows; 'On the lands of Mr Patrick Murphy may be seen what little remains of a very old church. It is attributed by some authorities to a St Baronthus, a contemporary of St Brendan (484-577) whom he influenced to sail into the unknown by telling him of a remarkable voyage of his son, Mernoc, in search of the Land of Promise. It measures internally 37 feet [11.27m] in length (from east to west) and 18 feet 3 inches [5.5m] in breadth. The entrance doorway was 15 feet 8 inches [4.7m] from the west gable, and appears to have been not less than 3 feet 10 inches [1.1m] wide in the ope. Similarly positioned was another door in the north wall, leading into an enclosed space, whose side walls were in line and contiguous with the gables and extended some 55 feet [16.7m]. In all probability, this compound' contained the priest's dwelling, or it may have been a small cemetery: a burial ground seems to have existed on the south side of the church, as evidenced by human bones having been accidently turned up in ploughing there many years ago and not connected with the use of part of the ground as a children's cemetery less than a century ago. All the walls of church and compound are uniform in thickness, 3 feet 3 inches [0.9m]'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 26 April 2022