St. Mary's Church was a church in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

, Ireland, first built in 1202 at the time of the Norman settlement of the town. The church building was deconsecrated in 1957 and has been used as the Medieval Mile Museum since 2017.

History

St. Mary's Church was built in 1202 close to

Kilkenny Castle Kilkenny Castle ( ) is a castle in Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, built in 1260 in Ireland, 1260 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, N ...

under the newly established Norman rule of Kilkenny. The tower was added in 1343. The parish was carved out of the parishes of St. Patrick's and St. Canice's. St. Mary's parish originally ended at St. James's Street, but was extended between 1207 and 1232 to extend beyond St. James's Street to the Breagagh River. The land for that extension was provided by the

Bishop of Ossory . The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but i ...

in exchange for land in

Aghaboe Aghaboe () is a small village in County Laois, Ireland. It is located on the R434 regional road in the rural hinterland west of the town of Abbeyleix. It contains the ruins of the Abbey of Aghaboe which was founded by St. Canice in the Oss ...

, County Laois. St. Mary's served as the church for the medieval (Norman) High Town, as Bishop David Rothe describes in the early 17th century. As early as 1205, the building was used to hold ecclesiastical court. Throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the church's upkeep was financed by the town's (later city's) merchants by collection of 4d. annually from each hall and a halfpenny from each stall or shop in town. Thus, the church became the pride of the merchant class in Kilkenny and many of its prominent members are buried there, including the Shee family, Archer family, Rothe family from

Rothe House Rothe House is a late 16th-century merchant's townhouse complex located in the city of Kilkenny, Ireland. The complex was built by John Rothe Fitz-Piers between 1594 and 1610 and is made up of three houses, three enclosed courtyards, and a larg ...

and bishop David Rothe. Only the wealthiest of the burgesses were allowed to be buried within the church. The town council held meetings in the building as well as court sessions. In the 16th century, it was also used as a venue for town plays. After the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the building fell into disrepair. It became a Protestant church like St. Canice's Cathedral and St. John's Priory, even though the Protestant population in Kilkenny was declining from under 20% in 1731 to 5% by 1800. This resulted in the building of Catholic churches of the same names ( St. Canice's Church, St. John's Church and St. Mary's Cathedral) in later years. In 1603, with

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

on the throne, the church was converted back to serve the Catholic population, only to be later converted again to be used by the Church of Ireland congregation. At the time of the

Confederation of Kilkenny Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1652, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

(1642-1649), it was again in Catholic hands with Archbishop Rinuccini celebrating High Mass. In 1957, it was finally deconsecrated and restored for use as a parish and badminton hall as well as a lodge for the Free Masons. In 2009, the property was bought by Kilkenny County Council.

Architecture

In its original shape, the church had a nave with side aisles,

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s and a

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

. Around 1560, the Rothe family (wealthy merchants) built a

chantry chapel A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Church service, Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantr ...

in the north transept of the church dedicated to the

Archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

. Even after the reformation had seen the church turned over to Protestant worship, these chapels continued to be used by the Catholic congregation. The family of John Rothe and Rose Archer from

are buried there, amongst other Catholic merchants of the time and later. It is believed that the bell-tower was a separate building, today indicated by a concrete platform in the churchyard. Kilkenny born architect William Robertson carried out works on the tower and elsewhere between 1819 and 1826. He is buried in the graveyard alongside his family. There is also a memorial plaque for his nephew in the church who was a founding member of the

Kilkenny Archaeological Society The Kilkenny Archaeological Society is an archaeological society in County Kilkenny, Ireland. History The Kilkenny Archaeological Society was founded in 1946.. An older society with the same name existed,. which developed into the Royal Society ...

Archaeology

In preparation of the opening of the building as a museum, four female skeletons were discovered in 2016 in the gateway area. The work was carried out by Kilkenny Archaeology. Three of the bodies found are on display in the museum since 2019.

Ordnance Survey

With its tall spire making it a prominent landmark, St. Mary's Church served as the fundamental reference point for Kilkenny, when the city and county were surveyed by the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

. A

benchmark Benchmark may refer to: Business and economics * Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations * Benchmark price * Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices Science and technology * Experimental benchmarking, the act of defining a ...

at the entrance still bears witness to that.

Gallery

St Mary's Church & Poor House (Lees Lane) James Graves.png, Drawing of the church by James Graves showing the since lost spire Kilkenny St. Mary's Church Crossing Ceiling 2017 09 11.jpg, Ceiling in the restored church building Rothe family tomb St. Mary's Church.png, Rothe family tomb in St Michael's Chapel

References