St Mary’s Church stands imposingly on the crest of a small hill at the edge of Delvin village. The church incorporates several sections spanning four centuries. The belfry tower may have originally been a watch tower and was built around 1550. The larger ‘hall’ section was built circa 1810, with the transept being added in 1860. The arched entrance to the church is beautiful and the quality of the stone-masonry that went into this building is captivating, the church has many Gothic and Neoclassical features throughout. The church was in use up until the 1970s but is already in quite the ruinous state. The graveyard surrounding the church unfortunately is littered with cans and also was visited at some stage by a misguided fool who thought they needed to poorly daub a Padraig Pearse quote on one wall in paint! Still, there is an ongoing initiative to clean up the church and grounds and St Mary’s is a place that deserves to be kept beautiful, well worth a visit.

GPS: 53.61069, -7.09377