| St. Patrick’s Church, Rathoe
c1950 |
- Date of Church: 1887
- Architect: William Hague
- Builder: Carbery, Athy
- Style: Gothic Stone
RATHOE (Rath – Tuaith), North Rath or Forth
Rathoe is situated between Tullow and Ballon, a small
friendly village made famous by Bard van Vousden who wrote the song “The
Roads Around Rathoe”. St. Patrick's Church is an excellent example of
19th century craftsmanship with beautiful stained glass windows.
The church site was purchased by Bishop Daniel Delany of
Tullow in the early 1800’s, and the present church was built at the rear
of an earlier humble structure that had existed for 100 years.
Preparatory work was done by Rev. W. Kinsella PP and his
successor, Rev. John Kehoe P.R Fr. Kinsella had left £500 in his will
towards the project and the total cost was over £3,000.
A bottle containing a Latin inscription was embedded in
the new Church, and it read: “On 17,h May 1885 Leo XIII being Pope over
the whole church. Bishop James Walsh laid the foundation stone of the
church at Rathoe. Fr. Patrick F. Nolan PR of Ballon & Rathoe”. By 1889,
Fr. Nolan was fundraising to pay for furnishings. In September of that
year a huge bazaar was held in Rathoe.
An ancient Baptismal font, octagonal in shape and
pierced in the centre, was transferred from the ruins of Templepeter
church to St. Patrick’s for the centenary in 1990. A beautiful stained
glass window by Early’s Studio, Dublin, overlooks the High Altar. This
was erected in the 1930’s. The panels depict the Annunciation, the
Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
The nearby area of Kellistown (Gill Osnadh,
church of St. Osnadh) was an important site in the early Irish
Church.
Source: The Churches of Kildare
& Leighlin 2000A.D.
