Church in Rathduff Upper

Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 51) describes, ‘Killossory, a subdivision of Rathduff, [which] is situated about a mile south of Kells, at the point where the road from Kells to Knocktopher crosses the little stream separating the townlands of Rathduff and Stonecarty’. He also mentions that, ‘Several saints named Lisrén, otherwise Molaissi, are commemorated in the Irish Martyrologies; but it is probable that the St. Laisren of Killossory was identical with St. Laisrén, or Molaissi, the first Bishop and patron of the Diocese of Leighlin, whose feast occurs on April 18th. Tradition hands down that the Church of Killossory, or, as it should have been called, Killeshereen, stood close to the ford here, and that it was deserted and became a ruin several centuries ago. Since then its remains have disappeared so completely that its exact site is now a matter of uncertainty. It may have stood, ‘either (a) in the small gree field beside the ford, to the west of the road, where black earth, such as is always to be found on the sites of ancient graveyards, has been dug up, also old horse shoes &c.; or (b) on the very brink of the ford, where a forge till lately occupied the site of an ancient mound composed for a great part of black, graveyard earth, and removed about 1820; or (c) within the old “raw” (rath), in the furze, about 20 perches [100m] east of the ford’ (ibid.). The mound (KK027-070002-) mentioned by Carrigan appears to be located on the NE side of Killossory Ford/Bridge and the ‘rath’ or enclosure (KK027-070003-) has been located c. 100m NE of the Killossory Ford/Bridge. The precise location of the church, however, remains unknown. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 18 April 2023