Survey Data
Reg No
14403101
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Archaeological, Architectural, Artistic, Social, Technical
Previous Name
Saint Patrick's Church (Tara)
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Heritage centre/interpretative centre
Date
1815 - 1825
Coordinates
292094, 259840
Date Recorded
19/05/2002
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached Board of First Fruits former church, built 1822, now in use as heritage centre. Three-bay side elevations to nave with three-stage castellated and pinnacled tower to west. Pitched slate roof. Rendered walls with stone buttresses, string course, and dressings. Y-tracery windows to south wall, blind windows to north wall. Pointed headed east window with stained glass inset. Medieval tracery window in west face of tower. Rubble stone boundary walls with ashlar piers and cast-iron double gates. Graveyard to site.
Appraisal
This former church is set in on the Hill of Tara, a site which has been the focus of religious activity for many centuries, and a site of great archaeological significance. It replaced an earlier medieval church on the site and incorporates elements of it in its fabric. The simple form is articulated by the stone dressings. Though the interior has been altered, it retains its furnishing and many interesting features and materials, including the important Evie Hone stained glass to the east window and polychromatic tiles, adding artistic interest to the building. The window was commissioned in 1932 for the 1500th anniversary of the arrival of St Patrick to Ireland.