Doora Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Doora Church |
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|---|---|
| St Brecan's | |
 Doora Church
Location in Ireland
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| 52°50′25″N 8°57′38″W / 52.840324°N 8.960577°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Status | Ruined |
| Founded | c. 500 |
| Founder(s) | Saint Brecan |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stone |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Doora, County Clare |
Doora Church (Irish: Teampull Dúrain), also known as St Brecan, Doora, is a very old ruined church in County Clare, Ireland. It might have been built as early as the year 500 AD! Over many years, parts of it have been changed and rebuilt. Today, it stands as a historical ruin, showing us what churches looked like a long time ago.
Contents
History of Doora Church
This church might have been started by a person called Saint Brecan around 500 AD. If this is true, it would have been one of the very first important churches in the Clare area.
People mentioned Doora Church in writings from 1189. Back then, it was called Durinierekin. Saint Brecan also started another church nearby, called Carntemple, about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Doora Church.
An old map from 1842 showed that the church was already in ruins. It was located about 200 meters southwest of a small village called Doora. The church itself is in an area called Bunnow. It is also about 300 meters east of the River Fergus, across from the town of Ennis.
What Doora Church Looks Like
Many people have described Doora Church over the years. Here's what they found:
Descriptions from the 1800s
In 1839, two scholars named John O'Donovan and Eugene O'Curry visited the church. They said it was in the middle of a bog, about a mile southeast of Ennis Abbey. They noted it was very old and had been changed a lot over time.
- Size: Inside, the church was about 59 feet (18 meters) long and 23 feet 8 inches (7.2 meters) wide.
- Walls and Gables: The west wall was mostly destroyed. The south wall had a doorway that was very damaged. Above this doorway, there was a stone with a rough carving of an animal's head.
- Windows: The south wall had two old windows. One was very ancient with a rounded top, both inside and out. It had a carving of a large dog's head above it. The other window was similar but not as old, added later when the church was rebuilt. The east wall had two more windows that were once beautiful but were also damaged. They were also round-headed.
- North Door: The north wall had a doorway that led to another building that no longer exists.
- Rebuilding: O'Donovan believed that much of the church, especially the east wall and parts of the north and south walls, had been rebuilt. He thought the east wall originally had only one window, and the second one was added later to match it.
In 1900, another expert, Thomas Johnson Westropp, described the church. He noted its "cyclopean" masonry, which means it was built with very large, rough stones. He thought the side walls and south windows were from the early 11th century. He also mentioned two interesting stone supports (corbels) in the south wall.
Doora Church Today
A website from King's College London reported in 2015 that the church hasn't changed much since Westropp's description. One stone from a window on the south wall had fallen. The carvings on it were too worn to tell how old they were. However, the shapes of the windows seemed to be from the 12th century. The south door had been repaired with concrete.
See also
- Carntemple, another ruined church nearby
