Tuesday 9 December 2014

Old Kinsealy Church Co Dublin


                                                Above Image: The entrance stile


                                                  Above Image: Entrance door

                                   Above Image: chancel arch & mausoleum
                                   Below 2 Images: The Austin Cooper Mausoleum








This small medieval church stands in a grassy graveyard on a back road en route to Portmarnock. It is dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra and is thought to have been in use until the 17th century. At one time this church would have stood closer to the sea but the coast land has extended over the centuries leaving the ruins now further inland.
The ruins are accessed by a roadside gate or by a stile in the boundary wall and the ground within is a little uneven underfoot in places.  What remains today are the nave, a chancel arch and a tall West gable sporting a twin arched belfry. Within the ruins on the East end is a mausoleum with the remains interred within of the prominent antiquarian & artist Austin Cooper (1759-1830) former owner of Abbeville House in Kinsealy. There is an entrance door in the South facing wall of the Church and a Chancel arch on the East end. It is a plain looking ruin but in a picturesque semi-rural setting which may not be the case much longer as developments are planned for the area around it. Hopefully they won’t encroach too much. I would hate to see the ruin becoming an ornament in grounds of some gated estate.
To find the ruins take the exit for the R139 at the Junction 3 exit of the M50. Continue on through the following roundabout until you reach the crossroads with the R107. Turn left at the crossroads and drive for approx. 3KM until you reach a right hand turn at Chapel Lane. It is identified by a whitewashed Church on your right at the junction. Turn down chapel lane and drive for approx. 400m until you spot the ruins in a field on your left. You can park safely enough on the left just at a gate in the South east corner of the boundary wall.

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