St Patrick’s Church, Kilquade is steeped in history. The very name Kilquade (Cill Comhghaid) tells of a St. Comghaid who had a hermit’s cell or a church in the area.
We know that there was a Catholic community here in the sixteen hundreds. Indeed two chalices still in use, bear the inscription “Anno Domini 1633” and 24th November 1759”
Also, official records of 1701 list a Fr. Seneca Fitzwilliam as the incumbent priest recognized by the British Government under the Penal Laws.
Tradition in the area tells that the original was burnt down in the time of Cromwell and rebuilt again. We know for certain that in 1798 the church was burnt down and in 1802 the present church built. Part of the funding for the new building was in the form of a “Restoration Grant” of £ 77 which came from the British Government. Consequently, St Patrick’s Church is known as a Compensation Church” and is the only such church remaining in the Dublin Diocese.
We know that the Catholic community here was an active one by the fact that after Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell wrote to Fr, Stennett, the then parish priest of Kilquade, asking if he had received a receipt for the contribution made by the parishioners of St. Patrick’s to the newly formed Catholic Association.
Now over two hundred years old, St. Patrick’s Church Kilquade had been recently renovated and refurbished. We pray that the faith, handed down to us by the generations who worshipped in this sacred place in the past, will continue to grow in our time and will shine brightly in this area in future generations.
How to get there
1: If you are on the N11 going Southbound continue through Glen of the Downs
2: Take the exit on your left for Kilquade after the Greystones and Kilcoole exit
3: If you are travelling on the N11 Northbound exit for Greystones and Kilcoole on the left. Cross under the motorway continue to the next roundabout and follow the Wexford sign
4: Continue back onto the motorway travelling southbound and then take the next exit left for Kilquade as in the southbound instructions
The nearest bus stop is on the Kilcoole road approx 1.5 miles away and is serviced by Dublin Bus route 84
The GZ is within a hundred meters of the National Garden Exhibition Center, which is well worth a look if you have the time. Please bring your own pen as the cache only contains a log book. There is a little something for FTF.
"The Church Micro IE series is open to everyone; if you have a church you would like to place a cache at then please contact THE_Chris through Geocaching.com. This is to keep track of the numbers of the churches and give you the general format for the cache page. In the UK there are thousands in the series so we have some catching up to do! Also, if you currently have a published cache at a church that you would like to include in the series, get in contact and we can add it."