From the wonderful Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland blog, a great resource not only on medieval pilgrimage but on holy wells/pilgrimage sites more generally, here is a fascinating post on a site in Cahir which I confess I have not visited myself… but will soon.
Each year thousands of tourist come to to the town of Cahir in Co Tipperary primarily to see the wonderful castle.
Cahir Castle
The town has many other amazing historic sites including St Mary’s Priory and St Mary’s parish church.
St Mary’s church is tucked away at the bottom of Chapel Street just off the town square. The church sits at the centre of a large historic graveyard, entered through an imposing gateway with large limestone built pillars.
Entrance to St Mary’s church and graveyard in Cahir
The church is a multi-period building, rectangular in shape. The change and nave are divided by a chancel arch. This was the medieval church for the town and the reformation the building was used as a place of worship by the established church and continued as such until 1820 (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 133). Interestingly Catholic worship also continued here too and the…
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Séamus Sweeney 