Fenagh Churches

Two churches exist 130 metres apart, with the first church built on the site of an ecclesiastical enclosure founded by Saint Caillín in the 6^th century. It is said that he transformed the local druids into stones, and his life is recorded in the Book of Fenagh which is now located in the Royal Irish Academy’s collections.

Both churches likely date to around the 15^th century, with one acting as the ecclesiastical centre of the old monastery, and the other as the parish church.

The site is made up of the churches, a graveyard, extensive earthworks, and the ecclesiastical enclosure. The earthworks cover about 60 acres and are protected by a preservation order.

The main church is said to have been accidentally burned in 1360, and it is likely the present structure you see today is the rebuilt design. In 1585 it was given to the Protestant bishop of Ardagh, and it is likely that it was used as a Church of Ireland church in the 1700s.

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