Ivy Covered Stone Church Walls
Old St Mary's Medieval Parish Church
Cahir, County Tipperary
Ireland
09-26-25
You know the old song, "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". Well, it was a long morning trying to find this particular image I shot in the town of Cahir in County Tipperary on the way to Kilkenny the day before I left Ireland for home.
Each day I visited and photographed so many seacoasts, towns, castles, and churches that it seems normal I might be forgiven to have forgotten some of the places I visited. It's been a month now since I left for Ireland. I'd marked Cahir on my itinerary because of the castle. I visited two that day, including the Rock of Cashel before arriving at Kilkenny to spend my last night on the trip. I've already shown some photos of Kilkenny Castle!
When I took this photo of Old St. Mary's Church in Cahir, I knew this was the view I wanted to present. I love the ivy climbing up the walls. It was very frustrating to me that I forgot the town where this church was, and kept going through all my folders, in fact, for a moment thinking I'd lost or erased the folder with whatever town the church was located in.
Needless to say I was quite relieved to have found it. I decided to do some research on the internet to find out why a lot of the old medieval churches don't have roofs, and why there are graves located inside where the services were once held. I had some ideas why and my suspicions were correct.
This church for instance was built and rebuilt from the 13th to the 16th century. Let that settle in. 300 years. It was in use till around 1820. Originally, small parish churches had wooden beam and thatch roofs, which would fall into disrepair every 50 or so years. As congregations grew and "new" churches were built to replace the smaller older stone churches, their graveyards remained as sacred ground, and the stone walls of the church made for enclosed areas where graves were eventually placed.
It might be noted that this particular church was used for both Catholic and Protestant services!
πΊ"The Best of 2024" on YouTube!
Ivy Covered Stone Church Walls
Old St Mary's Medieval Parish Church
Cahir, County Tipperary
Ireland
09-26-25
You know the old song, "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". Well, it was a long morning trying to find this particular image I shot in the town of Cahir in County Tipperary on the way to Kilkenny the day before I left Ireland for home.
Each day I visited and photographed so many seacoasts, towns, castles, and churches that it seems normal I might be forgiven to have forgotten some of the places I visited. It's been a month now since I left for Ireland. I'd marked Cahir on my itinerary because of the castle. I visited two that day, including the Rock of Cashel before arriving at Kilkenny to spend my last night on the trip. I've already shown some photos of Kilkenny Castle!
When I took this photo of Old St. Mary's Church in Cahir, I knew this was the view I wanted to present. I love the ivy climbing up the walls. It was very frustrating to me that I forgot the town where this church was, and kept going through all my folders, in fact, for a moment thinking I'd lost or erased the folder with whatever town the church was located in.
Needless to say I was quite relieved to have found it. I decided to do some research on the internet to find out why a lot of the old medieval churches don't have roofs, and why there are graves located inside where the services were once held. I had some ideas why and my suspicions were correct.
This church for instance was built and rebuilt from the 13th to the 16th century. Let that settle in. 300 years. It was in use till around 1820. Originally, small parish churches had wooden beam and thatch roofs, which would fall into disrepair every 50 or so years. As congregations grew and "new" churches were built to replace the smaller older stone churches, their graveyards remained as sacred ground, and the stone walls of the church made for enclosed areas where graves were eventually placed.
It might be noted that this particular church was used for both Catholic and Protestant services!
πΊ"The Best of 2024" on YouTube!