Hospital Church
Church in County Limerick, Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hospital Church is a ruined medieval fortified church of the Knights Hospitaller in Hospital, County Limerick, Ireland. It is a National Monument.[1][2]
| Hospital Church | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teampall an Ospidéil | |||||||||
| |||||||||
  Hospital Church | |||||||||
| 52.476269°N 8.432607°W | |||||||||
| Location | Barrysfarm, Hospital, County Limerick | ||||||||
| Country | Ireland | ||||||||
| Denomination | Catholic (pre-Reformation) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| Status | ruined | ||||||||
| Architecture | |||||||||
| Functional status | inactive | ||||||||
| Years built | by 1215 | ||||||||
| Closed | 1540 | ||||||||
| Specifications | |||||||||
| Length | 35 m (115 ft) | ||||||||
| Width | 9 m (30 ft) | ||||||||
| Number of floors | 1 | ||||||||
| Floor area | 315 m2 (3,390 sq ft) | ||||||||
| Materials | stone, mortar | ||||||||
| Administration | |||||||||
| Diocese | Limerick | ||||||||
| |||||||||
History
The church was founded before 1215 by Geoffrey de Marisco (d. 1245) as a commandery of the Knights Hospitaller who had owned land in the area since 1200.[3] It was dissolved in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and then leased, along with its contents, to Captain William Apsley and later to the Browne family; a new church was later built next to it.[3]
Building
The church was built for defence with high walls, prominent base batter and narrow arched windows. The tower at the west end had a barrel vault on the second floor, some of which survives. Architectural fragments and a medieval carving of the crucifixion have been set into the west wall.[3] The tops of two tombs with effigies dating to the 13th–14th century have been placed upright against the east interior wall: a tomb of a knight (possibly Geoffrey de Marisco)[4] and a badly damaged double tomb of a knight and his wife.[3][5]