The Church in the Seventeenth Century

What of the church in the parish? The end of the sixteenth century had seen the churches of Clonfert still, in spite of the suppression, in Catholic hands, but in the early years of the seventeenth century the old churches of Creagh, Kilclooney and the Teampolin at Poolboy passed into the hands of the Established church. The parish had before the Reformation been served by the Canons Regular of Clontuskert who held the rectory and vicarage. There was no church at the present Ballinasloe. The lack of a sufficient Protestant population meant that the Church at Kilclooney and the Teampolin fell into ruin. The church in Creagh was kept in repair and used by the Protestants. The Catholics had to retire elsewhere. In Creagh it is the tradition that mass was celebrated in Loughil. As one would expect there are few records of the names of the clergy of the period, which for our purpose ends with the battle of Aughrim in 1691.