- Church of Ireland interior
- O'B's exact shot, church interior.jpg (80.43 KiB) Viewed 4953 times
- Church of Ireland exterior
- O'B's exact shot, church exterior.jpg (88.83 KiB) Viewed 4953 times
- Airport on the lower left; Kilkishen village marked by the "A"
- Shannon airport to Kilkishen.jpg (127.74 KiB) Viewed 4953 times
- C of I on the left; old RC ruin on the right
- Kilkishen, church to church.jpg (59.82 KiB) Viewed 4953 times
Click on this link to see a good photo of the old church ruin amid the cemetery of Clonlea:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... e=cemetery
Displayed here are photos of the Church of Ireland structure, taken about two years ago by Limerick professor Dr. Michael O'Brien, who has kindly granted permission to use the images.
The Studdert family was a primary landlord and member of the Church of Ireland in Kilkishen. See: http://www.landedestates.ie/LandedEstat ... sp?id=1966
As that article indicates, by the second decade of the 1900s, the Protestant population in Kilkishen had dwindled drastically and by 1964 the church was no longer in use. The only activity after that seems to have been removal of all interior fixtures below the roof beams - pews, pulpit, heater, wall plaques, etc. At some point the windows were broken out and animals have been using the interior, such as crows stockpiling wood branches there. The only people making an effort to view the premises have been visitors yielding cameras, because the building is still handsome and makes a great photo. The exterior ground is a bit rough looking, but in time that too will be cleaned up and presentable. The Library has a good diagram of burials there:
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... veyard.htm
Although the population of Kilkishen now is enough for barely 300 houses, there is a growing spiritedness about being a Kilkishen parishioner. A group has decided to make the place more liveable, so a name has emerged: the Kilkishen Development Association. Every month a meeting or two is held to make progress on the latest idea to improve the infrastructure of the village. A lakeside park area and a playground have been completed, both largely dependent on local muscle in clearing ground and undertaking small-scale installations. Everyday the villagers have passed the old C of I. building and wondered what might become of it. Last year church authorities agreed to sell it, and local planning began for its restoration. Now a website is devoted to the project, where architectural plans can be viewed : http://kilkishen.com/ The great wooden beams will again reign over weekly activity, this time the sound of children engaged in learning activities and adults enjoying heritage events, two of many projected uses.
The new name will be the Kilkishen Cultural Centre. A daring initiative by a small group of dedicated volunteers, but certainly an idea whose time has come, in fact just in the nick of time before this fine old building crumbles. I thought you would like to know of it. I hope this can be the start of many such efforts to preserve the built heritage of rural Ireland.
Sharon Carberry