Donaghcumper Church

Donaghcumper Church is a ruined medieval church in Celbridge, Ireland.[3] On the Record of Monuments and Places it bears the code KD011-013.[4][5]

Donaghcumper Church
Old Donaghcumper Church; Donacomper, Donnacompare, Donnacompar, Dennycomfert, Downecumper, Donaghcomper, Donocomfert, Donocomper
Domhnach Compair[1]
East end with ogee windows
Donaghcumper Church is located in Dublin
Donaghcumper Church
Donaghcumper Church
Location in Greater Dublin
Donaghcumper Church is located in Ireland
Donaghcumper Church
Donaghcumper Church
Location in Ireland
53°20′23″N 6°31′41″W
LocationDonaghcumper, Celbridge, County Kildare
CountryIreland
DenominationChurch of Ireland
Previous denominationPre-Reformation Catholic
History
Founded12th century
DedicationSaint Brigid[2]
Architecture
Functional statusruined
Closed18th century
Specifications
Materialslimestone, mortar
Administration
ProvinceDublin and Cashel
DioceseDublin and Glendalough
ParishCelbridge & Straffan with Newcastle Lyons
The west window.

Location

Donaghcumper Church is located 800 m (½ mile) east of Celbridge town centre, on the R403 road (Dublin Road).[6][7][8]

History

This may have been a Christian site as early as the 5th century. The name means "church of the confluence"; the word Domhnach (from Latin dominica, "of the Lord") is traditionally assumed (due to a note in the 9th-century Book of Armagh) to belong to the earliest churches in Ireland.[9] The River Shinkeen, a small stream, enters the River Liffey 550 m to the north of Donaghcumper. A Domnach Combair appears in the Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii (9th century), although that appears to be located in Dál nAraidi, in the northeast of Ireland.[10]

The earliest part of the church was built c. 1150–60, around the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. In 1202 control of the church was given to St. Wolstan's Priory by the de Hereford family (Adam de Hereford and descendants). Cut-stone windows were added in the 14th century (c. 1340).[11]

The church was suppressed in the Reformation and the lands acquired by John Alan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was buried at Donaghcumper in 1561, as was his nephew John Alen in 1616, and John's son Sir Thomas Alen, 1st Baronet in 1627. Donaghcumper became a Church of Ireland (Anglican Protestant) church and was active for about 200 years.[12] In 1690, a James Warren was parish priest.

A sketch of 1770 shows the church with a roof and a tower in the west end. A map of 1783 lists the site as Ch. Rs. (church ruins) and the 1897 map lists it as ruinous.[13] However, the church is surrounded by a still-active graveyard; the earliest-dated grave still legible is that of a Nicholas Walsh, died 1711.

In 2000 some renovation took place, and in 2017 funding of €7,500 was allocated.[14][15]

Buildings
Porch in the south wall.

Portions of the nave and chancel remain. The Alen vault is located at the east end of the chancel. The east gable has an ogee window, and the west gable has a belfry. A round semicircular arch divides nave and chancel, and there is a gabled porch in the south end and a piscina in the east. Of the tower in the west, only one wall remains.[16] The buildings are held up by temporary buttresses and the church is fenced off to avoid injury to the public.

References
  1. "Domhnach Compair/Donaghcumper". Logainm.ie.
  2. Gilbert, John Thomas (15 November 2012). Register of the Abbey of St Thomas, Dublin. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108053396 – via Google Books.
  3. Ireland, Royal Society of Antiquaries of (13 November 2018). "The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". The Society – via Google Books.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Hermann Geissel's Personal Web Site". www.crsbooks.net.
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Kildare: History and Society. Geography Publications. 1 January 2006. ISBN 9780906602577 – via Google Books.
  8. "Holdings: Donacomper Church". sources.nli.ie. 1896.
  9. Moore, Peter (13 November 2018). Valhalla and the Fjšrd : A Spiritual Motorcycle Journey through the History of Strangford Lough. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781909906266 – via Google Books.
  10. Patrick, Saint; Stokes, Whitley (13 November 1887). "The Tripartite life of Patrick : with other documents relating to that saint". London : Printed for H.M. Stationery Office., by Eyre and Spottiswoode – via Internet Archive.
  11. "Churches & Monasteries – Kildare Local History . ie". kildarelocalhistory.ie.
  12. Society, County Kildare Archaeological (13 November 1899). Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society and Surrounding Districts. The Society – via Internet Archive. Donnacomper.
  13. Castlehunter (1 June 2013). "Ireland In Ruins: Old Donaghcumper Church Co Kildare".
  14. Now, Kildare. "Co Kildare medieval church gets restoration funding - Kildare Now".
  15. "Kildare pubs and churches among buildings to receive heritage grant cash".
  16. "Donaghcumper by William Kirkpatrick (1896)". 5 February 2013.
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