Religions and traditions are layered upon one another in the land of Ireland
the ceremony of Beltane
marks
The start of summer and is sacred to the ancient god Bell or Bell anise the shining God shown here near the traditional bonfire
Lighting on the hill of bush neck a royal seat of Ireland's high kings
as Christianity spread over Ireland starting in the
400s ancient religion combined with the new creating local saints like Saint Brigid who many believe is a
combination of pagan goddess and Saint likewise many church sites
like the one we explore today were likely built on top of or next to ancient religious sites and
centres in layers from the Neolithic until today
Thank you for joining us on this exploration today
Which is going to be shorter than normal as we are currently overseas recording new lost places and their stories for you to enjoy
The church standing in front of you was built in 1831 in the very midst of a time of turmoil in Ireland
since
1613 with the overthrow of the Catholic leadership in the Irish parliament all things were dominated by a new
Protestant ascendancy with penal laws in the 1600s and 1700s banning the Catholic
85% of the population from being in the government by the 1820s and 1830s
Protestants were making major moves to convert the population to their religion from 1830 to
1836 an informal conflict exploded called the tithe war over mandatory taxes of
Catholic churches to be paid to the Protestant Church of Ireland
following the 1829 Roman Catholic emancipation Act created by the Duke of Wellington
the abandoned childhood mansion of whom we explored earlier this payment remained and was
10% of the value of goods and produce created
farmers were the main victim of this tax as they gave to the Catholic Church and were now taxed by both as
resentment grew farmers teamed up with Catholic priests to not pay
on the very next year this church was built the British government made lists and issued orders to collect violence broke out as
Police tried to enforce property seizures, but most resistance was still peaceful
However in kilkenny a hundred twenty police tried to seize cattle from a priest and he organized a revolt
The constables fired on resisting farmers and killed twelve while one policeman also died
Church bells were used to organise attacks on the police as they came to seize property and in an ambush
14 were killed along with three attacking farmers
two hundred thousand men gathered in protest of the subsequent trial of the attackers that year fighting continued with
242 deaths
1179 robberies 401 burglaries
568 burnings
280 cases of cattle maiming
161 assaults 203 riots and
723 attacks on properties the police killed another 12 and wounded 42 while collecting at one location in
1838 the tithe commutation Act for Ireland passed reducing payments by a quarter and bundling them into rent payments
Finally in 1860
The taxes were annulled by the time of an independent Irish Free State the domination of the Protestant ascendancy
was reversed in the south and all mixed religious marriages were made to bring up their children as
Catholics and the church was given a special place in the government
This was ended in 1970 the very same decade this church was abandoned
It was later dear oof in 1985 and has since become a beautiful and lonely ruin
In the southern corner of the church are the foundations and a wall of an earlier church
This too likely built upon a pagan religious site as was the normal practice of the day
Nearby peat bogs where human sacrifice was often common make this even more probable
A large urged window shows the tower at the far end
You
This overgrown grave in the corner is framed perfectly by an old gnarly tree and rusted fence
While the graves here are a few they are very distinct and weathered
You
The outer walls windows and entrances are sealed, so let's check this church out from above
It sits alone in a vast sea of wheat a lone house in the distance
You
As for the mysterious reasons behind the layers of buildings here
We may never know but it is a special place to this day. If just for its peacefulness and beauty
That's it for today. Join us next time for a new
Exploration as we head to an abandoned Scotland until then
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