Maudlin Street

THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST

October 1, 2022 by infomatique

DUBLIN ROAD KILKENNY

PRIORY OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST IN TRIM COUNTY MEATH

The church is often known as the O’Loughlin Memorial Church.

The Church of Saint John the Evangelist, or John’s Church, is a Gothic Revival style church in Kilkenny, Ireland. The Church was designed by William Hague and built from 1903 to 1908 on the site of an earlier church located in the graveyard. The grounds are of little interest but it is worth viewing the interior of the building.

The orginal Roman Catholic Parish Church of St. John’s was situated in Maudlin Street. This earlier church’s construction commemced in 1840 and was finished by 1847. It was the last in line of several churches or Mass Houses that had existed in Maudlin Street. The stone from this earlier church was later used in the building of the Dr. Collier Wing of St. Kieran’s College that opened in 1956. The site of the new St. John’s was donated by the Marquis of Ormonde. The foundation stone was laid on the 22nd May 1897 and consecrated on the 20th of June 1908.

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CORNER TOWER MAUDLIN STREET

October 1, 2022 by infomatique

KILKENNY SEPTEMBER 2022

MAUDLIN CEMETERY IN TRIM

The tower stands isolated and gated and I noticed much litter at the time of my visit [9-11 May 2016] however this was not an issue in September 2022.

To the best of my knowledge this building is known as the ‘Corner Tower”.

Situated on Maudlin Street, the structure was at the outer corner of a garden wall, and would represent the north-east corner of a wall enclosing the lower part of the St John’s suburb. Its overall dimensions are about 4m tall, and 2.2m in diameter, with walls 0.3m thick, and an open back towards the former garden (with short lengths of the connecting walls). There is an offset for a ‘parapet’, with a single row of slots at its base (probably for water run-off). Internally, there are indications of five blocked windows (or perhaps gun ports) at 1.7m above ground level, and 0.5 m square. It may well be of 16th-century date.

The tower is in reasonable condition, though it has been repointed in an unsympathetic manner.

MAUDLIN CASTLE IN KILKENNY

September 17, 2022 by infomatique

LOCATED ON MAUDLIN STREET

Maudlin Castle is a tower house which formed part of a medieval hospital and National Monument located in Kilkenny, Ireland

Leprosy arrived in Ireland in the 10th or 11th century. Many leper houses were dedicated to Mary Magdalene because of the association between her and sexual excess and prostitution, which were incorrectly associated with leprosy.

The Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene in Kilkenny was opened sometime before 1327 (perhaps by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke in the early 13th century) and it quickly became one of the main leper houses in medieval Ireland. It was on the edge of the city and surrounded by high walls. The entrance was controlled through a gatehouse. It also had a chapel, graveyard and 50 acres of farmland. This hospital had a long association with St. John’s Priory, Kilkenny.

The surviving tower house was built in the early 16th century. The hospital was dissolved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Maudlin Castle was described as ‘a small castle roofed with tiles, which was built for the defence of the lepers and dwellers in the suburbs, this is now empty and worth nothing’. There is a reference in 1628 to a ‘town ditch’ near St. Mary’s Church, so there may have been a moat beyond the gate. The hospital was gifted to Kilkenny Corporation by Charles I.