© Monaleen church
The church in Monaleen is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.
It was built in 1873 on land given by William Nunan. The architect of
this large stone church was Mr Goldie. The builder was Mr Kavanagh.
Fr Meehan was parish priest at the time of its building. The church
has a high timber ceiling.
© Altar in Monaleen church
In the porch of the church, there is a stained glass window
on the right to St Anne and St Joachim. At the back of the church, there
is a plaque to the memory of Fr Timothy Peter Leonard who was a member
of the Missionary Society of St Columban. Fr Leonard, who was from Ballysimon,
died on July 17th 1929 while he was on missionary duty in China. He
was the first Columban priest to die a violent death. While celebrating
Mass, Fr Tim was taken off the altar by bandits and killed. He was just
36.
© Stained glass windows in Monaleen church
Near this plaque on the left of the church, there is a
stained glass window to Mary Magdalene. The stained glass windows in
the middle of the church are to the memory of James Morrison. Opposite
these, on the right, are stained glass windows to Mary and Joseph. These
are to the memory of John Moynihan.
In the middle of the church on the right, there is a wooden
carving of Jesus Christ forgiving Mary Magdalene. The stained glass
window on the right at the top of the church shows two different depictions
of the Bread of Life, and the adjoining inscription asks us to pray
for Helena Fitzgerald. The stained glass windows opposite this show
the Crown of Thorns and an Urn. The inscription on the window asks people
to pray for the Fitzgerald family.
© Stained glass windows
in Monaleen church
At the back of the altar there are four different depictions
on the stained glass windows. They are (from left to right) St Joseph,
Jesus Christ, St Patrick and St Thomas. The window of St Thomas is to
the memory of Thomas Purcell. The stonework behind the altar is exposed.
© Wooden carving in Monaleen church
The old church altar lies on the ground to the right outside
the present church. On the left of the church there is a statue to Mary
and Mary Magdalene.
The previous church in Monaleen was on the site of the
first school in Monaleen. The church was on the Old Schoolhouse Road.
The remains of the building were knocked in 1987.
The old Mary Magdelene church was beside the graveyard
in Kilmurry.
There was a parish church in Derrygalvin. Some ruins were
visible in 1840 in the graveyard on the Ballysimon road. There are no
signs of any church ruins nowadays. It was dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin in the 16th century. The parish of Derrygalvin was merged with
Kilmurry parish in 1792.
There was also a church in Killonan. The church was named
after Lonan, who was a disciple of St Patrick. The church was near the
railway station of the same name. Lewis states that the ruins of this
church were visible in 1837.
The church in Ballyclough is referred to in some books
as Crewally. This church was part of the old parish of Knocknagall.
The whereabouts of this church are now forgotten.
Westropp mentions churches in Killovenoge and Kilbane.
Killovenoge church was north from Derrygalvin church. We found no information
on either of these churches.
Website by Lúnasa
Design
