In the foliage is the remains of a tiny church. It is completely enclosed and can only be accessed from through the houses. It may have been the church that William John Burke was Baptised in…
After ordination in 1831, Fr William John Burke was sent to Peterswell, in Co Galway. Later on that year he was transferred again back home to Kinvara. He was made administrator of the newly built, St Colman’s Church . Incidentally, his father had contributed to the building of the same church a few years earlier. His arrival marked the beginning of record keeping in the church. The cover page of the registrar contains the following inscription:
A Register of the Baptisims, Marriages and Certificates of the United Parish of Kinvarra, Duras and Killina, by Rev Wm J Burke
June 26th 1831
Fr William John Burke’s first ceremony performed in the parish was the baptism of John Fahy on 28th June 1831. His record keeping seemed meticulous and was the first priest to document the religious events of his parishioners. He remained there as parish Priest of Kinvara until 1834. His time there initially was quite and unremarkable, however, when he returned their again a decade later under very different circumstance it was far from peaceful…