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Kilbennen

Coordinates: 53°32′20″N 8°53′32″W / 53.538801°N 8.892219°W / 53.538801; -8.892219
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Kilbennen
Cill Bheanáin
Kilbennen is located in Ireland
Kilbennen
Location within Ireland
Monastery information
Other namesKilbannon; Kilbennan; Cell-beneoin; Dun Lughaid
OrderFranciscans (15th century)
Establishedlate 5th century AD
Disestablished15th/16th century
DioceseTuam
People
Founder(s)Benignus of Armagh
Architecture
Statusruined
StyleCeltic
Site
LocationPollacorragune, Tuam, County Galway
Coordinates53°32′20″N 8°53′32″W / 53.538801°N 8.892219°W / 53.538801; -8.892219
Visible remainsChurch and round tower
Public accessyes
Official nameKilbennen
Reference no.48

Kilbennen or Kilbannon is a medieval ecclesiastical site and National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland.[1][2]

Location

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Kilbennen is located 3.7 km (2.3 mi) northwest of Tuam, on the far side of the River Clare.[3]

History

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The monastery here was founded by Benignus of Armagh (Benin, Benen, Bennan), a disciple of Saint Patrick,[4] in the 5th century AD, although the Book of Armagh associates it with a different Benignus, of the Luighne Connacht.[5] Iarlaithe mac Loga (Saint Jarlath) studied here in the 6th century.[6]

The Annals of the Four Masters record the burning of Kilbennen in 1114.[7] In 1148 they record the death of Ceallach Ua Domhnagain, "noble head of Cill-Beneoin."[8]

The Franciscans built a church c. 1428.[9]

Some conservation work was done in 1880–81.[citation needed]

The church is surrounded by a wall and a graveyard, where some ancient crosses and slabs can be seen.

Ruins and monuments

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Round tower with doorway visible.
East gable window, now blocked up.

The limestone round tower is badly damaged and stands 16.5 m (54 ft) tall at its highest point and 4.8 m (16 ft) in diameter. It has a sandstone doorway 4.56 m (15.0 ft) off the ground.[10]

Both gables are standing on the church. The east gable had a twin-light cusped ogee-headed window.[11]

A holy well is located to the northwest, where Bennin is said to have healed nine lepers.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Kilbannon Church Ruins, Tuam".
  2. ^ MacNeill, Máire (1 January 2008). The festival of Lughnasa: a study of the survival of the Celtic festival of the beginning of harvest. Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann. ISBN 9780906426104 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Association, Irish Tourist (8 April 2018). "Official Guide to Connacht". Irish Tourist Assoc – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Ireland, Royal Society of Antiquaries of (8 April 2018). "The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". The Society – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". The Society. 8 April 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Kilbannon". dúchas.ie.
  7. ^ "Part 22 of Annals of the Four Masters". celt.ucc.ie.
  8. ^ "Part 25 of Annals of the Four Masters". celt.ucc.ie.
  9. ^ Great Britain and Ireland, a Phaidon Cultural Guide. Prentice-Hall. 8 April 1985. ISBN 9780133637557 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Schorr, Frank. "Kilbennen Irish Round Tower". www.roundtowers.org.
  11. ^ "Kilbennan Round Tower and Church".
  12. ^ Bourke, Ulick Joseph (8 April 1876). The Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race and Language: The Round Towers, the Brehon Law, Truth of the Pentateuch. Longmans, Green. p. 408 – via Internet Archive. Kilbennen benignus.
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