Doora-Barefield is a parish in
County Clare and part of the Abbey grouping of parishes within the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It lies to the north and east of the town of
Ennis
Ennis () is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in County Clare, with a population of 25,27 ...
and includes the suburb of
Roslevan in the eastern part of Ennis.
The parish is an amalgamation of the medieval parishes of Doora, Kilraghtis and Templemaley.
Current (2022) co-parish priest is Martin Blake.
Churches
There are three churches in the parish.
The main church is the St. Breckans Church in
Doora. This cruciform church is built in 1836.
The second church of the parish is the Church of Immaculate Conception in
Barefield
Barefield or Gortlumman () is a village and townland in County Clare, Ireland. It is located on the R458 road, with the M18 national primary road between Ennis and Gort skirting it.
Barefield is in the Catholic parish of Doora-Barefield pa ...
. This rectangular church is built in 1874, replacing a thatched building nearby.
The third and newest church of the parish is Our Lady's Church in Roslevan. This chapel shares the building with Fahy's Hall, the community centre for Roslevan. Its church space is rectangular but can be made more cruciform with the shared space from the hall. It officially opened in 2012.
Effectively, it is a replacement of the Our Lady's Church at the site of the former Our Lady's Hospital on Gort Road in Ennis. When the hospital closed in 2002, it lost its primary function as hospital church. Being out of the way of the main population centres, with dwindling numbers and the lease expiring, this 1942-built church was closed in 2010 with the relics moved to the church in Barefield. The church is now abandoned and in decay.
[See the photo in the gallery]
gallery
File:Church of St. Breckan - Doora.jpg, Church of St. Breckan in Doora.
File:Church of St. Breckan - Doora - altar.jpg, Altar of the Church of St. Breckan
File:Church of the Immaculate Conception - Barefield - Sideview.jpg, Church of the Immaculate Conception in Barefield
File:Church of the Immaculate Conception - Barefield - altar.jpg, Altar of the Church of the Immaculate Conception
File:Church of Our Lady Roslevan - outside.jpg, Church of Our Lady Roslevan
File:Church of Our Lady Roslevan.jpg, Altar of the Church of Our Lady Roslevan. On the left the shared space with Fahy's Hall (non-carpeted)
File:Our Lady's Church, Gort Road, closed and abandoned.jpg, The closed Our Lady's Church, Gort Road
File:Templemaley church.jpg, The ruin of Templemaley Church
File:Kilraghtis Church.jpg, The ruin of Kilraghtis Church
References
{{Ireland-geo-stub
Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe