Rathmichael Church

Remains of Rathmichael Church

Rathmichael church was mentioned first as a diocese in Dublin in 1179. It forms part of a wider religious settlement comprising a tower and a graveyard as well as some inscribed stones known as Rathdown slabs.

Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

Remains of Rathmichael Church
Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

Remains of Rathmichael Church

Rathmichael church was mentioned first as a diocese in Dublin in 1179. It forms part of a wider religious settlement comprising a tower and a graveyard as well as some inscribed stones known as Rathdown slabs.

Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

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Rathmichael provides a good example of an early religious settlement. It consisted of a church, a round tower and a graveyard.

Today the remains of all this provide clues to the past. The first mention of Rathmichael was in 1179 when it was listed as a church in the diocese of Dublin.The church is located on high ground in the middle of the graveyard and was surrounded by a rath.

The remains of the church encompass the South wall and the gable-end of the chancel. In 1852 the chancel arch fell but it was believed to have been a later addition to the older church.