churches historical meath

St. Patrick placed St. Cianan over the first church here in the 5th century. St. Cianan, who is credited with the building of the first stone church in Ireland, died in 489 and his body was said to have been preserved without decay. The monastery was plundered at least 10 times between 830 and 1149. The bodies of King Brian Boru and the other heroes slain at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 rested here for a night before being brought to Armagh for burial. Duleek became the centre of a diocese...

This was the medival seat of the Bishops of Meath where an 18th century mansion designed by James Wyatt was erected by Church of Ireland Bishop Arthur Price. It was the site of a famous eary christian Monastery linked with St. Ultan after whom the holy well on the grounds of the church is named....

Trim is a town which was founded by the Normans on the banks of the Boyne and few towns in Ireland contain more medieval buildings than it. These buildings are as follows:

Castle:
The first fortification on the site was a motte with a timber tower, erected by Hugh de Lacy in 1172 as a first step towards the conquest of Meath. He left Hugh Tyrell in charge of it. But Roderick O'Connor, King of Connacht, thought himself threatened by its existence, and he marched agains...

The insignificant remains of the aisle of a medieval church as well as a few 15th or 16th century architectural fragments. The main interest of the place is a slab mounted beside these remains with a representation of the Crucifixion on it. On Christ's right is a man holding a spear, and on his left a man offers him vinegar in a chalice on the end of a pole. It probably formed the lintel over the doorway of a church which has since disappeared. The lintel is probably 12th century in date....

An older church existed on the site which was dedicated to St. Columba, and there was once a shrine to him here (hence the name, from Latin Scrinium, a shrine). Around 1175 Adam de Fajpo was granted the land and built another church whose tithes he brought with him when he joined the Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary's in Dublin around 1185. the present church was founded around 1341. It has a nave and chancel, and a tower at the western end of the church.

The north doorway retains some...

Donaghpatrick on the site of a fifth century church which was built for St Patrick by Conall, brother of King Laoghaire. Near the church are the remains of an ancient rath which consisted of a mound surrounded by four ramparts....

St. Patrick is said to have founded the first monastery here. There is a well preserved Round Tower, which lacks its top windows. It is to be suspected that these originally existed, but were not included in the restoration works when the conical cap was replaced about 150 years ago.

The tower is unusual in that there is a Crucifixion about the round-headed doorway, and there are heads beside the arch. The nearby church was built in the 15th century, but it replaces a Romanesque c...