Kill of the Grange, often Kill o' the Grange, is an ancient parish in the half Barony of Rathdown, which contains an early religious site, within

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; the ancient site is a

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 ...

. The area, part of broader Deansgrange, within the jurisdiction of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, is 5 miles southeast of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Location

Kill of the Grange lies inland, on the south side of

Dublin Bay Dublin Bay ( ga, Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Du ...

. In modern times it is surrounded by housing developments and is located within

Deansgrange Deansgrange () is a southern suburb of Dublin, centred on the crossroads of Clonkeen Road and Kill Lane. The area shares the name Clonkeen () with the area further east, known as Kill of the Grange (i.e. "Church of the Grange of ": referring to ...

, in the traditional County Dublin.

Structures

The early church is associated with St

Finnian of Clonard Finnian of Clonard ('Cluain Eraird') – also Finian, Fionán or Fionnán in Irish; or Finianus and Finanus in its Latinised form (470–549) – was one of the early Irish monastic saints, who founded Clonard Abbey in modern-day County Meath. ...

and dates from the 11th century. Parts may date to the 6th century as they are similar to remains found at

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. ...

. The church was originally a simple oblong (now the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

) and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and belfry were later added. Originally known as Clonkeen (), it is now known as Kill of the Grange, meaning "church of the

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely a ...

." There is also a

bullaun A bullaun ( ga, bullán; from a word cognate with "bowl" and French ''bol'') is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun. The size of the bullaun is high ...

(about across) and

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

on the site.

Churches

There are two churches in use in the 21st century. The Church of Ireland church is close to the traffic Lights. Designed in 1863 by William John Welland and John Gillespie who were architects to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the church was consecrated in 1864. It is on a rectangular plan with a double height apse. The Roman Catholic church is located near Bakers Corner. From the 1970's, it is often described as 'The boiler house', and as "an exercise in the control of light from above."

Houses

The area is home to a number of historic houses, including Kill Abbey, which was originally built in 1595 by John Usher. The house is now much modified but still represents the oldest house in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown area.

History

The site was part of the possessions of the Priory of the Holy Trinity (later

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

) and their records give a vivid picture of the 14th-century monastic site at Clonken / Kill o' the Grange, describing the construction of a

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

house with

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

roof and

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...

walls, and the

grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

itself being built from timber bought from the native Irish (probably in the

Dublin Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Wh ...

).''The Archaeology of Medieval Ireland'' (2002), Terry B. Barry, Routledge. (pp. 6-7)

References

{{Authority control Religion in County Dublin Archaeological sites in County Dublin National Monuments in County Dublin