St Brendan’s Church, Kilkenny, Ireland

The partly dismantled skeleton of St Brendan’s Church stands in the centre of Hugginstown village in Co. Kilkenny. Pre-1800 only one church existed in the area however locals could not agree on a site for the new church so one was built in Hugginstown and one in the nearby village of Newmarket. St Brendan’s is a five bay, double height church and with a buttressed bell-cote. The ironwork that makes up the entrance to the graveyard and church is incredibly ornate. In the corner of the graveyard the rear of a house can be seen. It was built in 1880 as a meeting house for the Land League, and in 1882 Michael Davitt gave a speech from its steps. The Land League was a political organisation that sought to emancipate the tenant farmers and abolish landlordism in Ireland. St Brendan’s Church was in use until 1983 and a beautiful interior is mentioned in most literature relating to the church, sadly this cannot be seen today but it doesn’t make St Brendan’s any less charming.

GPS: 52.45234, -7.25117

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