Sheepstown Church is a medieval church and National Monument in County Kilkenny, Ireland.[1]

Sheepstown Church
Ballynageragh
Cill Bhaile na gCaorach
Sheepstown Church is located in Ireland
Sheepstown Church
Sheepstown Church
52°29′06″N 7°14′36″W / 52.4849°N 7.243442°W / 52.4849; -7.243442
LocationSheepstown, Knocktopher, County Kilkenny
CountryIreland
DenominationChurch of Ireland
Previous denominationPre-Reformation Catholic
History
DedicationSaint Muicín
Architecture
Functional statusinactive
Heritage designation
Official nameSheepstown Church
Reference no.73
StyleHiberno-Romanesque
Years built12th–13th centuries
Specifications
Length14 m (46 ft)
Width6 m (20 ft)
Number of floors1
Floor area62.5 m2 (673 sq ft)
Materialssandstone
Administration
DioceseOssory

Location

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Sheepstown Church is located 1.8 km (1.1 mi) west of Knocktopher, immediately west of Junction 10 of the M9.[2]

History

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The church at Sheepstown is dedicated to St Muicín, bishop and confessor (d. 630). The stone church was built during the 12th or 13th century, at a period when the Irish church was moving from a monastic to a diocesan setup.[3]

Church

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The church is Hiberno-Romanesque and simple in design. The west doorway has simple bead moulding, as do the four corners of the gables. The door in the south may have led to the sacristy. High in the northwest corner is a corbel called the "clock-stone", perhaps the gnomon of a sundial.[4][5][6]

References

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  1. ^ "The Journal of the Kilkenny and South-east of Ireland Archaeological Society". The Society. 1 January 1867 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Hogan, John (1 January 1884). "Kilkenny; the Ancient City of Ossory, the Seat of Its Kings, the See of Its Bishops and the Site of Its Cathedral". P. M. Egan – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Sheepstown Church".
  4. ^ "Sheepstown Church".
  5. ^ Past, Ed Hannon-Visions of the (13 August 2014). "Sheepstown Church, Kilkenny, Ireland".
  6. ^ "Sheepstown".