Tullaroan Church

Tullaroan Church, Co. Kilkenny, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, is surrounded by a rectangular graveyard. The church features a nave and chancel, with an additional chapel added to the south of the chancel in 1543.

Constructed from roughly coursed limestone and sandstone rubble, the earliest phase of Tullaroan Church is represented by the chancel, which houses a double cinquefoil sedilia—stone seats for clergy—dating back to the 1200s. Although much of the original structure has been lost to the passage of time, remnants of the south wall of the chancel, the wall separating the nave and chancel, and the north gable, have survived.

A notable feature of the church is the pointed doorway inserted into the chancel wall, providing access to the south chapel. This doorway and chapel, added by Sir John Grace in 1543, is elaborately decorated with moulded Tudor roses, vine-leaf, and grape motifs surrounding the pointed arch. Flanked by triangular pilasters capped with heavy crockets, the doorway is further embellished with a lion rampant—the heraldic device of the Grace family—above it. Asymmetrically positioned plaques on either side of the doorway bear contemporary Latin inscriptions in raised black letter script, marking the date of the chapel’s addition.

Tullaroan Church and Grace's Chapel house a collection of grave slabs and memorials dating from the 13th and 14th century’s onward, showcasing intricate artistry and inscriptions from that time. Located against the northern wall of the nave, the upper left portion of a grave slab—possibly the lid of an altar tomb—features a beautifully decorated seven-armed interlace banded cross with fleur-de-lis terminals. At the base of the cross head is a three-bar knop, while the upper broad border retains fragments of a Latin inscription in raised black letter script, recorded in the Memoir of the Family of Grace (1818).

On the ground in the chancel lies a limestone lid of a chest tomb dedicated to Peter Butler, Lord of Bouncestown, and his wife, Helen Grace. Peter Butler's death is recorded as occurring on January 31, 1575. The tomb is decorated with a seven-armed segmental cross featuring fleur-de-lis terminals and a banded shaft. Surrounding the cross is a Latin inscription in raised black letters.

Within Grace’s Chapel, there is also a chest tomb commemorating Richard Grace, son of Robert of Adamstown, and his wife, Honora Shortall, dated circa 1600. The lid of this tomb, currently resting on a reconstructed chest, features a seven-armed interlace cross with fleur-de-lis terminals, with the shaft rising from a simple triangular base.

The church and grave slabs of Tullaroan Church and Chapel not only serve as tributes to the individuals commemorated, but also provide valuable insights into the artistic, cultural, and social practices of their time.

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