Contractor appointed to carry out conservation work at historic site in Offaly

An aerial view of old St Brendan's Church and Graveyard on Castle Street. This is probably the site of Birr's early Christian monastery where St Brendan would have lived.

placeholder image — An aerial view of old St Brendan's Church and Graveyard on Castle Street. This is probably the site of Birr's early Christian monastery where St Brendan would have lived.

A CONTRACTOR has been appointed to carry out conservation work at an historic site in Birr, a recent meeting of Birr 20:20 was told.

Denis Shine, Chairperson of Birr 20:20, and also Director of the Irish Heritage School, told the meeting that the old St Brendan's Church at the junction of Castle Street and Church Lane has been closed to the public for many years because “it's not 100% safe. A contractor has been appointed to carry out conservation and health & safety work there and the paperwork has been done. We are now waiting for the contractor to get on site and begin the work.

“The idea is that eventually this very important site, which gives an insight into Birr's medieval past, will be open to tourists and visitors.”

The site is a possible location for St Brendan's Monastery (which was founded in the 6th Century). In an excellent article on its website, Birr 20:20 points out that archaeologically the evidence for a monastery at Church Lane is not extensive. However, human remains and a curving ditch on Main Street were discovered in two sets of archaeological test-excavations about 15 years ago which gave the people of Birr “a tantalising glimpse into what could be preserved below ground.”

Geophysical surveys were carried out at the site in 2017, co-ordinated by the Irish Heritage School and requested by Birr 20:20, and these inferred that grave cuts continued outside the current nineteenth century graveyard boundary.

Historically, the monastery is reasonably well recorded, notably as having been the location of several significant church synods, probably including the Synod of Adomnáin (named after Adomnáin an Abbot of Iona) in 697 AD.