St.Pappans Church, G. Yd.

St. Pappan's Church of Ireland (1709) was reputedly rebuilt on the site of a medieval parish church, erected by Adam de Fiepo in the late 12th- century who granted it to St Mary's Abbey, Dublin (Adams 1881, 484). This medieval church was built on an earlier foundation associated in the 6th- entury with St Pappan. Its presence is indicated by the remains of an ecclesiastical enclosure (DU014-057003-) with a holy well (DU014-057004-) close by. The OS 6-inch map (1936) shows a roughly oval enclosure around the present church (dims. L c. 55m, Wth c 46m) which may be the remains of an early enclosure. This is evident in the N sector of the graveyard as a raised platform (H1.1m), planted with sycamores. It is cut through by the insertion of the Domville family tomb. The line of the enclosure is continued in the graveyard wall (1712 AD) along the E side and continues to the SW. The Regal Visitations (1615) mention that the church was ruinous by that time. The only trace of the medieval foundation is a font in the SW corner of the chancel (DU014-057003-; see Adams 1881, 482-495). Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Date of upload: 26 August 2011