Kilfane Church is a medieval 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 ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, Ireland.

Location

Kilfane Church is located north-northeast of

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

History

The area is supposed to derive its name from a Saint Phian. The church was built in the 13th century. The Cantwells were Lords of Kilfane and adjoining areas from shortly after the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

to the confiscations following the

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. Poet Deirdre Brennan wrote a poem about Kilfane Church in 2001.

Church

Kilfane Church is a long rectangle with

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

, book rest and

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

. The sedilia are believed to come from an older church and still have some medieval paint. Three original doorways in the north and south walls are headed by

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinatio ...

stones. The

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

at the east end may have housed the presbytery/

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

and provided residents in the upper storeys. When the new Church of Ireland building was built across the road, the old church found new use as a church. The main feature is the

Cantwell Fada The (; also known as the Long Man) is an effigy of a knight on display in the ruins of the 14th-century Kilfane Church in Kilfane near Thomastown in County Kilkenny, southern Ireland. The effigy is carved from a single slab of limestone. The ...

, an effigy of a knight from the 1320s/30s; this would have been intended to lie horizontally as a cover to his tomb, but is now set vertically and protected by a transparent cover. When the church was used as a school, misbehaving children were made to kiss the effigy. Later, it had been covered by soil to protect it until 1840, when James Graves uncovered and cleaned it. Four casts were made; one of them is on display in the National Museum in Dublin.

References

{{Reflist Churches in County Kilkenny Archaeological sites in County Kilkenny National Monuments in County Kilkenny Former churches in the Republic of Ireland