A barn church or barn chapel is a specific type of

clandestine church A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition t ...

, built in times that a certain church was illegal but tolerated as long as the churches were not specifically looking like churches. These were no elaborate buildings but simple structures without pews. They were design to hold rather large kneeling and standing congregations. In rural areas those clandestine churches usually mimicked a barn, hence the name. In towns and cities people were more creative, hiding churches in houses and warehouses. File:Barn Church Kilnaboy.jpg, Former barn church in Kilnaboy, County Clare, Ireland File:Vlaamse schuur 2.JPG, Example of a former Barn church in The Netherlands

References

{{Reflist Church buildings