Hospital Church
Hospital Church | |||||||||
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Teampall an Ospidéil | |||||||||
52°28′35″N 8°25′57″W / 52.476269°N 8.432607°W | |||||||||
Location | Barrysfarm, Hospital, County Limerick | ||||||||
Country | Ireland | ||||||||
Denomination | Catholic (pre-Reformation) | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
Status | ruined | ||||||||
Architecture | |||||||||
Functional status | inactive | ||||||||
Years built | by 1215 | ||||||||
Closed | 1540 | ||||||||
Specifications | |||||||||
Length | 35 m (115 ft) | ||||||||
Width | 9 m (30 ft) | ||||||||
Number of floors | 1 | ||||||||
Floor area | 315 m2 (3,390 sq ft) | ||||||||
Materials | stone, mortar | ||||||||
Administration | |||||||||
Diocese | Limerick | ||||||||
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Hospital Church is a ruined medieval fortified church of the Knights Hospitaller in Hospital, County Limerick, Ireland. It is a National Monument.[1][2]
History
[edit]The church was founded before 1215 by Geoffrey de Marisco (d. 1245) as a commandery of the Knights Hospitaller who had owned land in the area since 1200.[3] It was dissolved in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and then leased, along with its contents, to William Aspley and later to the Browne family; a new church was later built next to it.[3]
Building
[edit]The church was built for defence with high walls, prominent base batter and narrow arched windows. The tower at the west end had a barrel vault on the second floor, some of which survives. Architectural fragments and a medieval carving of the crucifixion have been set into the west wall.[3] The tops of two tombs with effigies dating to the 13th–14th century have been placed upright against the east interior wall: a tomb of a knight (possibly Geoffrey de Marisco)[4] and a badly damaged double tomb of a knight and his wife.[3][5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Lee, Gerard A. (20 December 1996). Leper hospitals in medieval Ireland: with a short account of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. Four Courts Press. ISBN 9781851822850.
- ^ "Reports from Commissioners, Inspectors, and Others". H. M. Stationery Office. 1918. p. 23.
- ^ a b c d "Hospital, Church, Co. Limerick". The Standing Stone. September 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Bartlett, Thomas; Jeffery, Keith (1997). A Military History of Ireland (photo). Cambridge University Press. p. 95. ISBN 9780521629898.
- ^ Killanin, Baron Michael Morris; Duignan, Michael V. (1989). The Shell Guide to Ireland. Gill and Macmillan. p. 204. ISBN 9780717115952.