Baldongan Church, also called Baldungan Castle, is an ancient ruined church and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

near

Skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, Ireland.

Location

Baldongan Church lies in a rural part of north County Dublin (modern

County Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

), halfway between

and Lusk and from the seashore.

History

First church

An earlier church at the site was granted to the Priory of St Mary at Kilbixy in c.1190.

Castle

Baldongan was originally the site of a

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as the Ávila Cathedra ...

, rectangular in plan with towers on each corner, constructed by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in the 13th century on the site of an ancient

dún A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognate ...

. When the Templars were suppressed in 1313, the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

acquired Baldongan, and in 1350 Sir Reginald de Barnwall obtained it in trust from the Archbishop.

Peter Trevers Peter Trevers, or Travers (died 1468) was an Irish barrister and judge of the fifteenth century. He belonged to a family which had settled in County Meath in the thirteenth century. John de Tryvers, judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) c ...

, a leading judge, owned it in the 1460s. It later passed to Richard of the

de Bermingham The de Birmingham family (or de Bermingham) held the lordship of the manor of Birmingham in England for four hundred years and managed its growth from a small village into a thriving market town. They also assisted in the invasion of Ireland a ...

family and then as a marriage settlement from his sister Anne to

Christopher St Lawrence, 5th Baron Howth Christopher St Lawrence, 5th Baron Howth (c.1485–1542) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and statesman of the Tudor era. Background He was the eldest son of Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth and his first wife Jenet (or Genet) Plunkett, dau ...

in 1508. During the 1640s rebellion, a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

force held the castle until June 1642, when the

Irish Royal Army Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

under a Colonel Trafford breached the walls using cannon. The garrison then surrendered, and 200 men were put to death except for two priests, who were tortured on the

rack Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin ...

and deported to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. A nearby field is called the "Nuns Stood", supposedly the site from where local

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

watched the destruction of the castle. However, there is no record of any convent ever having been nearby. The castle was said to have stood to the North or North-west of the current church however all remains above ground have now been destroyed or removed.

Church

The later church was built in the 15th century and was furnished with a 21 metre high fortified bell tower. The tower is square. The earliest visible gravestone on the site is dated the 20th of March 1735. The royal visit of 1615 reports that the church and chancel were in ruins at that time. An illustration of the church by

Francis Grose Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Prove ...

in 1791 shows the church in much the same condition as it is today and shows a bell-cote for two bells and with the

Earl of Howth Earl of Howth ( ) was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1767 for Thomas St Lawrence, 15th Baron Howth, who was elevated to Viscount St Lawrence at the same time, also in the Peerage of Ireland. The St Lawrence family descended ...

's arms on the front.

References

{{Authority control Religion in Fingal Archaeological sites in County Dublin National Monuments in County Dublin Castles and fortifications of the Knights Templar Buildings listed on the Fingal Record of Protected Structures