Kilbennan Ecclesiastical Site

Kilbennan (also known as Kilbannon) is a medieval ecclesiastical site located on the west side of the River Clare, 3.7 kilometres (2.3 miles) north-west of the town of Tuam.

The monastery on the site was founded in the 5th century AD by St. Benen (St. Benignus), a disciple of St. Patrick and the son of Lugni, of the Luighne Connaught, an ancient territory on the borders of what is now County Mayo and County Sligo.

In the 17th century, writer John Colgan’s ‘Trias Thaumaturgica’ recorded, in a chapter on St. Benen, that the earliest church on this site was built by St. Patrick within the boundary of a fort that was owned by Lugni, who the saint had baptised, alongside his brothers and father. It is believed that St. Patrick marked out the site with his crozier and was the first to offer communion here. Local legend states that the imprint of his knees where he prayed can be seen amongst the ruins.

The priest and scholar Iarlaithe mac Loga (St. Jarlath) studied here in the 6th century.

The Annals of the Four Masters records the burning of Kilbennen in 1114, and also records the death in 1148 of Ceallach Ua Domhnagain, the "noble head of Cill-Beneoin.”

As a much later addition to the original site, members of the Franciscan order built the church c. 1428, of whose dilapidated remains only the two end gables are still standing. The east gable has a twin-light cusped ogee-headed window, though both lights are now almost entirely blocked up.

The remnants of a superbly built limestone round tower stand beside the church’s ruins. Significantly reduced from its original height, it is 16.5 metres (54 feet) tall at its highest point and 4.8 metres (16 feet) in diameter. A sandstone doorway is located 4.5 metres (15 feet) off the ground.

A holy well is to be found to the north-west of the church, where St. Benen and St. Patrick are said to have healed nine lepers.

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