Gems of Architecture

By Damian Murphy The origins of St John’s Church date back to 1290, when, according to the Liber Primus Kilkenniensis, Mass was first celebrated at the altar of the new Lady Chapel adjoining the choir of the Augustinian Priory of St John the Evangelist (1211). The Lady Chapel was renowned for the uninterrupted sequence of … Read more

Athy, Co. Kildare By Damian Murphy The skyline of Athy was transformed in the early 1960s when both of its nineteenth-century Catholic churches, St Michael’s and St Dominic’s, were replaced. The new St Michael’s (1960–4), the larger parish church, took its inspiration from Italy, with its basilica plan and slender multi-stage bell-tower given Romanesque openings … Read more