Hospital_Church
Hospital Church
Church in County Limerick, Ireland
Hospital Church is a medieval fortified church of the Knights Hospitaller and a National Monument in Hospital, County Limerick, Ireland.[2][3] The church is located on Main Street, Hospital, to the west of the R513.[4]
| Hospital Church | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teampall an Ospidéil | |||||||||||
| 52.476269°N 8.432607°W / 52.476269; -8.432607 | |||||||||||
| Location | Barrysfarm, Hospital, County Limerick | ||||||||||
| Country | Ireland | ||||||||||
| Denomination | Catholic (pre-Reformation) | ||||||||||
| Architecture | |||||||||||
| Functional status | inactive | ||||||||||
| Years built | by 1215 | ||||||||||
| Closed | 1540 | ||||||||||
| Specifications | |||||||||||
| Length | 35 m (115 ft) | ||||||||||
| Width | 9 m (30 ft) | ||||||||||
| Number of floors | 1 | ||||||||||
| Floor area | 315 m2 (3,390 sq ft) | ||||||||||
| Materials | stone, mortar | ||||||||||
| Administration | |||||||||||
| Diocese | Limerick | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The church was founded before 1215 by Geoffrey de Marisco (d. 1245) as a commandery of the Knights Hospitaller who had owned land in the area since 1200.[citation needed]
Conor O'Brien (Unknown-1203) buried here, was a Gaelic nobel and Knight Hospitalier who took part in the 3rd Crusade. He was knighted by King Richard I Coeur-deLeon, King of England, during the course of the 3rd Crusade. The Irish monks at the Abbey of St. Peter in Ratisbon, Germany recorded his oversea journey.[5]
The church was dissolved in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and then leased, along with its contents, to William Aspley, and then to the Browne family.[citation needed]
This is a fortified church built for defence, with high walls, prominent base batter and narrow arched windows. A tower sits at the west end with a partial barrel vault on the second floor. In the west wall is a medieval carving of the crucifixion of Jesus.
On the interior of the east wall are two 13th/14th tombs with effigies,[6] a double tomb depicting a knight and his wife.[7]
- Lee, Gerard A. (20 December 1996). Leper hospitals in medieval Ireland: with a short account of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. Four Courts Press. ISBN 9781851822850 – via Google Books.
- "Hospital, Church, Co. Limerick". www.thestandingstone.ie.
- "Hospital Local Area Plan 2012-2018" (PDF). limerick.ie.
- "Conor O'Brien (Unknown-1203) - Find a Grave". www.findagrave.com.
- Killanin, Baron Michael Morris; Duignan, Michael V. (20 December 1989). The Shell guide to Ireland. Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 9780717115952 – via Google Books.
- Bartlett, Thomas; Jeffery, Keith (9 October 1997). A Military History of Ireland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521629898 – via Google Books.