The church at Templemore is known as St Mary’s but also as The Big Church (An Teampall Mór in Irish) from where the town got its name. The origins of this ecclesiastical site date back to the years following the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 when the Butlers became the rulers of this area. The family donated some land to the Abbey of St Thomas in Dublin and around the year 1200 an abbey was built with a moat, the remains of this moated graveyard can still be seen today. A church at this site is listed in the ecclesiastical taxation of the Diocese of Cashel in 1302 and the church at Templemore probably dates to the late 14th century . The church was significantly altered around 1762 when the Church of Ireland shortened the church and inserted a cross-wall. This church was in use until 1790. There are visible burials dating from the 1630s up to the 1800s. The church is strangely juxtaposed beside a pitch and putt course in the Town Park of Templemore but is a striking ruin to visit.

GPS: 52.79933, -7.83877