Market House — Cahersiveen

There is little on record concerning this church but there can be little doubt but that the patronage and protection of the local catholic landlord family of the O'Connells helped establish it as penal chapel. It is not noted in Smith’s "Ancient and Present State of Kerry" (1756) but is mentioned in Thomas Raid's "Travels in Ireland in 1822" as an established Catholic chapel. He observed that it could not accommodate more than one-third of those who assembled to worship. He also refers to a more capacious structure being built in the neighbourhood. It is evident that by 1822 it had reached the end of its useful life. Although there is no record of its establishment as a chapel, this probably took place in the late 18th or early 19th century. The structure itself is rectangular and does not have an east-west orientation. Either it was converted from an existing structure or was built on a small restricted plot of ground donated for the purpose of erecting a chapel. Two simple gothlc-style windows are intact in the south gable and this is the best preserved part of the original chapel. The opposite north wall gable is modern for the most part and the main door may have been located here. There have been alterations along the lateral walls and it is not possible to decide definitively what is original and what are later modifications. It is named ‘Market House’ on the OS 1st ed. 6-inch map (c. 1840) and it is evident that once the chapel fell into disuse it was added to and converted into a market hall. In 1994 the building was listed as Historic Monument under Section 5 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1987. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 31 March 2015