RC church 1820s

Hello Fionn,

Genealogist and Ireland Reaching Out Volunteer, Shane Wilson, has compiled a website (SWilson.Info) where you can research a whole range of topics pertaining to Ireland, one of which is the R.C. Parish Townland Database. This database is brilliant for locating chapels and churches situated within a particular Catholic parish. In many cases there was more than one chapel or church within Catholic parishes across Ireland.

You are interested in the Catholic Parish of Killucan and Croghan, in County Roscommon. Information and a map from Shane’s R.C. Parish Townland Database, shows three chapels/churches located in the Catholic Parish of Killucan and Croghan. These are (A) the Ballinameen chapel in the townland of Knockglass; (B) the Drumacool townland chapel near Drumlion; and (C) the Croghan chapel. See the attachment.

Shane has set up the database so that you can view these chapels on present-day Google Maps, and also on GeoHive website, Ordnance Survey Maps, compiled from 1829 to 1841, and from 1897 to 1913. One of the Ordnance Survey Maps, from the 1829 to 1841 time period, is in colour.

BALLINAMEEN AND KNOCKGLASS CHAPEL

The following link from the R.C. Parish Townland Database, will take you to a Google Map of the location of the old chapel in Ballinameen, Knockglass Townland, indicated by the red teardrop. The map also shows the location of the present day St. Attracta’s Church, south of the old chapel, off Acres Hill: https://tinyurl.com/2be2hdb7

This next link will take you to a Google Street View of the old chapel along the R370 Road: https://tinyurl.com/3xcum2a2

Here is a Google Street View of St. Attracta’s Church, Acres Hill: https://tinyurl.com/2acsapnp

According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, St. Attracta’s Church was constructed circa 1903: https://tinyurl.com/4j8xkx5f

The Buildings of Ireland website does not have a construction date for the old Catholic chapel, but the Buildings Database at Ireland Reaching Out for the Ballinameen R.C. Chapel does, explaining the old chapel has been at the village crossroads of Ballinameen since 1800, and that the chapel, in the Irish language was called, “Séipéal Bhaile na Mín.”

Séipéal is the Irish word for Chapel, and Bhaile na Mín for Ballinameen:
https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/buildings-da…

Using what’s known as the Irish Transverse Mercator Coordinates System, Shane provides the coordinates for the Ordnance Survey Maps of the “R.C. Chapel” in Ballinameen, Knockglass Townland. The map, attached to this reply, is the Ordnance Survey Map in colour, from the 1829 to 1841 time period. This map shows the location of the old chapel, long before St. Attracta’s was built.

You’ll also see on the map that the School House and Police Barrack are near the chapel. To the east is the Acre Lodge, and to the north, the Pound.

DRUMACOOL NEAR DRUMLION CHAPEL

The next link from the R.C. Parish Townland Database, takes you to a Google Map of St. Michael’s Church in Drumacool Townland, near Drumlion. See: https://tinyurl.com/52usjfnr

Here is a Google Street View of St. Michael’s Church: https://tinyurl.com/ync4rx5x

On the attached Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829 to 1841 time period, you can see the R.C. Chapel, located right of centre between Drumlion and “Drumercool.”

For a history of St. Michaels Church, which dates to 1856, go to the Ireland Reaching Out, “Buildings Database” at: https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/buildings-da…

The Buildings Database at Ireland Reaching Out explains there was an earlier chapel in “Séipéal Dhroim ar Chúil,” with a thatched roof that leaked, and that this chapel was replaced by St. Michael’s.

CROGHAN TOWNLAND CHAPEL

The Google Map from Shane Wilson’s website shows the church in Croghan is also called St. Michael, and is located just south of Croghan’s Bar; the Post Office; the Community Centre; and Shannon Gaels GAA Club: https://tinyurl.com/mrx7yeew

A Google Street View shows that St. Michael’s Church is located along the L1403 Croghan Road: https://tinyurl.com/5bdm23wb

Attached to this reply is the Ordnance Survey Map of the Croghan R.C. Chapel in colour, from the 1829 to 1841 time period. The chapel is just north of the Police Station.

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website explains that St. Michael’s, Croghan, was constructed circa 1880. I believe however that St. Michael’s was constructed on the same location, or near the same location, as the R.C. Chapel indicated in the Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829 to 1841 time period.

The earliest evidence I found for a chapel in Croghan (Cruachán in the Irish language) comes from Ireland Reaching Out’s Buildings Database, which explains that the thatched-roof shop of a merchant with the surname Donellan, was converted into a chapel in 1796:
https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/buildings-da…

Fionn, the place where your ancestors may have worshipped would likely have depended on where they resided within the Catholic Parish of Killucan and Croghan during the 1820s. They may have attended one of the chapels closest to their home.

Utilizing Google Maps, or Bing Maps, you can find the distance from the town where your ancestors lived, to the closest place of worship in either Ballinameen/Knockglass; Drumacool/Drumercool, near Drumlion; or Croghan.

On another note, according to a book by genealogist Brian Mitchell entitled “A Guide To Irish Parish Registers,” the Killucan Catholic Parish was also the Catholic Parish for parishioners living in the Civil Parish of Killumod/Killummod. The National Library of Ireland website also shows that Killumod/Killummod is one of the alternate names for the Catholic Parish of Killucan: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0554

The IreAtlas Townland Data Base provides the names of the townlands located within the Civil Parishes of Killukin and Killummod. For townlands in the Civil Parish of Killucan, see: https://tinyurl.com/23mthtdu

For townlands located in the Civil Parish of Killummod, see: https://tinyurl.com/9e4nrf4z

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

Sources

SWilson.Info: the R.C. Parish Townland Database
Google Maps
Google Street View
GeoHive: Ordnance Survey Maps
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland
Ireland Reaching Out: Buildings Database
Brian Mitchell: A Guide To Irish Parish Registers
National Library of Ireland
IreAtlas Townland Data Base

Thank you Dave. That is very extensive research.

Fionn

You're welcome Fionn, and many thanks for your reply.

All the Best,

Dave