Ecclesiastical enclosure in Desart Demesne

In pasture, c. 400m E of the Desart Court house which has since been demolished. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 389), ‘The site of a church is pointed out about a quarter of a mile east of Desart Court, in the portion of the demesne known as the “Church field.” It occupies the point of a piece of rising ground. The church itself, with the churchyard, has been destroyed, but the circular earthen ring that enclosed both may be still traced. The name of this church, as appears from the St. Leger documents quoted above, was Kilfeachin or Kilfechine, that is Cill Feichín, or the Church of St. Feichin. It was also called Tamplefeighane or Teampull-Feichín, for in the Fiants of Queen Elizabeth, there is entered a “lease, under queen’s letter, 16 April, 1574, to Jasper Horsey, Esq., of the tithes of corn and hay, altarages, and other profits of the parish churches of Tullanghanbrooke, Lesloynyne alias Tamplefeighane, and Ballykyve, Co. Kilkenny. To hold for 40 years, from the termination of a lease by the abbot of St. Thomas the Martyr, Dublin, in 1537, to Nich. Stevens, chaplain, Walter Archer, of Kilkenny, gent., Marion Courcey, his wife, and Nicholl Kranesbrughe, of Kilkenny, widower, Rent £5 6s. 8d.”’. A circular enclosure (diam. c. 40m) within an outer enclosure (diam. c. 80m) is visible as a cropmark on an aerial photograph (CUCAP AVL076, 15 July 1968). Though levelled, the outline of this enclosure is also visible as undulations on satellite imagery (Digitalglobe, viewed 24 May 2021). There is no visible trace of the church (KK022-021001-), graveyard (KK022-021002-) or holy well (KK022-021004-) mentioned by Carrigan (ibid. 389-90). The form of the enclosure suggests that this was an early medieval monastic church. See attached: KK022-021003-_01 CUCAP (AVL076, 15 July 1968) KK022-021003-_02 Digitalglobe satellite imagery, viewed 24 May 2021 Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 24 May 2021