Ch. (in Rns.) — Caherconlish

Multi-period fortified nave and chancel parish church of Caherconlish that was drawn in 1681 by Thomas Dineley which shows that the roofed nave was entered through a round-headed doorway located at W end of nave that is now blocked up. A single light slit ope possibly of cruciform shape is visible at W end of S wall of nave with triple light flat-headed window of 17th century appearance at E end of S wall of nave. The unroofed chancel walls were topped with stepped battlements and was entered through a flat-headed doorway with hood-moulding, probably dating from the late 16th/ early 17th century. A double bellcote rising from the apex of the chancel arch is visible above the roof line of the nave. Remains of an angle buttress are visible on the SE angle of the chancel. The church formed the N boundary of a burial ground that was enclosed by a circular-shaped stone wall with entrance gate at SE (NLI, MS 392; Shirley 1858-67, 197). Caherconlish Castle which is depicted as a tower house type structure stood outside the burial ground to the SW. Caherconlish C of I church ruins built in 1780 incorporating the W end of the medieval church ruins described in the Urban Survey of County Limerick as following; "This small medieval nave and chancel church, built of uncoursed rubble limestone, is unroofed, covered in ivy and in poor condition. It was altered in the nineteenth century when the nave walls were thickened, an east wall inserted to the west of the chancel arch and a west tower added. The chancel is now very ruined but it had a battered east wall and long and short quoins on the south east angle (some sandstone) and there is one splay of a window on the south wall. The centre of the chancel is filled with mortuary crypts. The chancel arch was originally pointed but when the church was shortened a smaller round arch, probably now functioning as the window of the nineteenth century church, was inserted. The nave was lit from the south by three windows but all are lacking jambs and tracery. There is an opening in the north wall and a doorway and flat lintelled mural stairs in the west end of the wall which may have led to an earlier tower. The west wall is nineteenth century." (Bradley et. al. 1989, 90-1). Caherconlish described by Westropp (1904-5, 440) as following; 'It was once a walled town, with four castles, and the ruins of a "college." A fortified gate stood till not long before 1826 (Fitzgerald, i., 285). Carkynlys, 1259 (Plea R.); Cathairconlish, 1285-7 (Wars of Torlough), when its castle was stormed and burned by Torlough O'Brien, king of Thomond. He "faced for rampart-guarded solid stone Cathair cind lioss." Inquisitions about persons killed in this raid are numerous. They are usually described as "slain at Karkynlys by Terdeluach Obreen, and other felons." The harbouring of the Irish by de Burgo, of Castle Connell, and the abbot of Wetheney, and the plundering of "Karkenlys Church," are fully recorded (Plea R., vol. ii., p. 126, xviii Ed. I., m. 31 ; in 40, p. 135, &c, &c). Records are numerous. Karkynglissi, in Wethney, 1302. Murage to provost and bailiffs of "Catherkenlysche, as lying on the marches, with the Irish rebels on every side" (Close R.). King Edward's charter is preserved, Nov. 9, 1358; Carkynlis deanery, 1615. The rectories of Carkynlishe, Killyvorly, Eathiordan, and Cayrelly, granted to Walter Ap. Howell,1552 (Fiants, 1020). The parishes of Caherconlish, Luddenbeg, and Willestown United, 1791 (L.M.H.). Fabric - T. Dyneley gives a sketch in 1680. It shows a ruined wing, with five-stepped battlements. The rest had a cross-shaped light and pointed door, and a triple window of oblong lights. In 1840 a fragment of the east end, 12 feet [3.65m] high and 7 feet [2.1m] long, stood, supported by a vault. The I. C. church covered the rest of the site. Monuments - Gabbett and Bourke. Theo. Bourke and his wife, Slaney Brien, "1441" (recte, 1641); mentioned also by Dyneley; and Annabel Gould, and the relatives of John Maunsell, 1662 (see Fitzgerald, i., p. 285). Compiled by: Denis Power Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 31 October 2018