St. Patrick's Church, Ardragh
St. Patrick's Church is situated in the townland of Ardragh about four
miles from Shercock on the Shercock to Carrickmacross Road. The church
is hidden in trees about a hundred yards from the main road near
Corvalley Cross.
Ardragh or Ard Rath - a high fort, is an ancient site on which this
church was built in 1866
and consecrated in 1868.
The church was endowed by the Shirley family and designed by the
architect William
Slater of London in
the era of the
Gothic revival.
The
church has many unique features and shows a high
quality of workmanship. Of note is the semi circular chancel with its
stone roof and three stained glass windows. One depicts Christ the true
Vine, the central one depicts Christ the Good Shepherd and the third
rather curiously depicts a very traditional Christ the Light of the
World with a somewhat modern looking lamp. The rose window above the
main entrance, while small, is very beautiful depicting, St. Patrick. It
is claimed to be one of the few stained glass windows to include a pig,
associated, of course, with St. Patrick's time of slavery in Ireland.
All the windows
are by Clayton and Bell of London and were created in 1868
according to Dr David Lawrence in his book, 'The Diocese of Clogher,
Stained-Glass Windows', October 2009. Dr Lawrence was obviously highly
impressed by his visit to St. Patrick's and
speaks in glowing terms about every aspect of the building. The roof
has a steep pitch and is timbered and platered in a distinctive
manner.
For
its small size the church gives a magnificent impression of
space and height. In 1881 the parish was joined with
Magheracloone and
in 1976 was joined with Carrickmacross. Canon Leslie notes that the
Parish Registers were destroyed in the Public Records Office fire.
Clergy:
1868 - 1872 Patrick Hastings
1872 - 1881 Alexander Hurst Ross