The first mention of the parish of Knigh is in the ecclesiastical taxation records of the Diocese of Killaloe in 1302 where it is recorded as ‘Kilkneyn, the church of Knigh’. During the middle ages all tithes from the parish of Knigh were paid to the Cistercian abbey of Owney in County Limerick and the abbey appointed the parish priest of Knigh. The church that stands at Knigh dates from the 15th century and is constructed of roughly coursed limestone. At the west end of the church is a separate chamber which is believed to have been the two -story living quarters of the priest of the parish, this is now home to several burials of the Fletcher and Minnitt families. In the Royal Visitation of 1615 the church is described as ‘ruined with no chancell’.

One of the most interesting burials at Knigh is that of Calib Minnitt the tomb states, ‘Here lyeth the body of Calib Minnitt, who was barbarously murdered John Chery, Ann Parker, James McDowel and others at Crannagh Duff, the 2nd day of April, Anno Domini 1707′. The life of Calib Minnitt appears to have been short and violent. The Minnitts were a wealthy family who had settled in the area in the late 1600s, their son Calib could be described as a philanderer at best and a criminal at worst. In 1707 Calib had been courting Ann Parker, who was also a member of the local gentry, when Ann Parker fell pregnant Calib refused to marry her. Ann arranged to meet Calib at Crannagh Duff to give him one last chance to marry her, when he refused she dropped her handkerchief, this was a sign for John Chery and James McDowel, tenants of her fathers, to approach and murder Calib. It appears they were never prosecuted due to the dishonour shown to Ann Parker so the Minnitts carved their names on Calib’s headstone as a way of keeping record. Calib had also been charged with a rape several years earlier which it appears he may have bought his way out of. In 1701 he was charged with the rape of Margaret Bart, who had been a visitor to the Minnitt family home. However his father complained that Miss Bart had, “craftily enveigled and enticed the petitioner, tho’ a foolish young ladd of about seventeen years of age (he was 21!) to be familiarly acquainted with her” with the purpose to, “design his ruin and wrest money out of him”. Calib got a very light sentence and was ordered to do public penance on three successive Sundays at churches of Birr, Killaloe and Nenagh.

The church and graveyard of Knigh has burials from both the catholic and protestant faiths with most of the legible headstones dating to the 18th and 19th centuries though some newer burials are present.

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