Across the road from the beautiful Cong Abbey stands the former Church of Ireland church of Cong, Co. Mayo. It is a classic ‘Board of First Fruits’ style structure, who funded a large amount of Protestant Churches throughout Ireland in the 18th century and the first half of the 19th. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland tells us that the Church was built in 1811 after receiving a loan of £640 from the board. There is some evidence that the church actually retained some of the features of an early church from 1745, that was recorded as being in ‘bad repair’ by the Vestry Minute Book; Ecclesiastical Reports from 1807. This single cell church is home to a striking tower with crow stepped battlemented parapet. The windows and doorways are pointed and gothic in style. The church was closed in 1865 and fell into ruin by 1894.
GPS: 53.5403, -9.28648
So many ruined churches like this around the country. I wonder why so many were abandoned? This one isn’t even so old, yet how quickly they decay. Happy 2017 to you! Is there anywhere left in Ireland for you to visit this year? 😁😂😄
Happy 2017 to you and yours Ali :). Aye still over 1000 places to visit in Ireland! The reason you get a lot o these abandoned first fruit churches I imagine is to do with the decline in the Protestant population in the late 1800s.
Thanks Ed! Enough to keep you busy a little while longer, then…
For sure 🙂 and hoping for at least one trip over to wales/england. Many other plans for the site this year also, all will be revealed by end of Feb/early March hopefully 🙂
Now I’m intrigued! 😁 looking forward to finding out more…
All the best to you and yours in 2017 Ali 🙂
Just came across this site after visiting Cong earlier this month from America. I feel so sad to see so many Churches–both Roman Catholic and Protestant in such state of ruins–and wondering if you could tell me two things–1) what were the roofs made of that they are gone while the walls still remain, and 2) why did the Protestant population decline in the late 1800s? Thank you for your time answering 🙂
Thank you for your comment. In regards to the roof issue, alot of the churches that were deroofed were done due to risk of danger to the public and many were also stripped of anything that could be resold once they were deconsecrated. In relation to the dwindling Protestant population I guess that would be for a number of reasons, first the famine of the 1840s essentially caused a population drop of over 40% that continued well into the 20th century. There was also an exodus of Protestants from Ireland in the late 1800s as Nationalist sentiment increased and could sometimes be sectarian in nature. There are also a host of other reason, low birth rates amongst Protestants and a move to the three most north easterly counties on the island of Ireland where there was a larger unionist population.