The former St Matthew’s church in Kilcar, County Donegal. Dating from the second half of the 1820s (it was consecrated by William Knox, Bishop of Derry in Sepember 1828) the present building replaced an earlier one erected in the 17th century. As so often, funding was provided by the Board of First Fruits, resulting in what Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland described as ‘a small handsome building.’ The architect is unknown but the church conforms to type, composed of a two-bay hall with a tower at the west end. Closed for services in the 1960s, the building subsequently lost its roof but what remains has recently been cleared of encroaching vegetation.
In the United Dioceses of Derry and Raphoe, in which St Matthew is of, it may be of interest to the reader, this church is not completely forgotten. The incumbent , when instituted by the Bishop to the cures of St John’s, Inver; Christ Church MountCharles;St Peter’s Kilaghtee, and St John’s Killybegs, St Matthew is duly read out as one of the Rectors charges.
Thank you Elizabeth, good to know…
It is lovely in its simplicity.