Annagh Church

Annagh Church is a ruined medieval church which is surrounded by both an ancient and modern graveyard near Blennerville, 3.5km south-west of Tralee. The local townland is known in Irish as Eanach an Ambrósaigh, meaning 'the marsh of An Ambrósach’, referring to the Anglo-Norman surname Ambrose.   The church was built between the 12th and 15th centuries. The church building was primarily built from local limestone, with sandstone being used for its gothic windows and doorways.

On the interior south wall of the church is a small, crudely carved sandstone sculpture of a man on a horse holding a weapon. The carving is thought to depict a Norman knight and may date to the 14^th century.

In the Papal taxation of 1306 the church of 'Hanagh' was valued at 40 shillings per annum, with a tithe value of 4s per annum. In 1418 a papal letter written to Richard More, a Kerry priest, ordered that 'provision to be made to him, then in minor orders only, of the rectory of Annagh in the above diocese, of the patronage of laymen, and dispensed him to hold them together for life.’ He obtained the said rectories under the said mandate, which stated, amongst other things, that he was of knightly birth, that the rectory of Anach was void by the death of Maurice Fitz[Maurice?], that formerly the vicarage of Clogherbrien was separated from the rectory thereof, and that the said rectories were reputed to be a single benefice, whereas in fact he was not noble except in so far as his father and his grandfather on his mother's side were the sons of knights' daughters, and the rectory of Anach was void by the death of Maurice O'Cahill.

In 1601 the condition of the church of Annagh was described as 'ruinous' and has not been used for regular worship within living memory. Annagh graveyard comprises two sections: an older section surrounding the medieval church and a modern graveyard extension to the south. The western gable was reconstructed by the OPW in the early 20th century. In 2008 an archaeological survey of the graveyard was carried for Kerry County Council by Eachtra Archaeological Projects. It maps the graves and gives photographs with surnames. It can be downloaded as a PDF file here: Annagh-Graveyard-Archaeological-Survey-Blennerville-Co.-K.pdf

A searchable online inventory of the graves in the churchyard is available here: Annagh Cemetery in Tralee, County Kerry - Find a Grave Cemetery

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This national monument is protected in accordance with the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014