The O’Loughlin Memorial church of St John was built between 1897 and 1908 but for nearly 800 years the people of the area have worshipped in a church dedicated to St John the Evangelist – the beloved disciple. First, Bishop Felix O’Dulany (1178-1202) and then in c1211 William Earl Marshall, the Norman lord who built Kilkenny Castle, endowed the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, known as the ‘Brethren of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist’ with a site to the east beyond the bridge of Kilkenny. On the 27th December 1220 (feast day of Saint John), the first Mass was celebrated in the chapel of St John the Evangelist of Kilkenny. Ruins of this beautiful gothic church, once known as the ‘Lantern of Ireland’ still exist, and the bridge, street and parish have all maintained the name of Saint John’s or John’s.
One of the most interesting decorative features of the church is the magnificent mosaic floor which extends across the sanctuary area. The influence here of the Gaelic/Celtic revival and the arts and craft movement are very evident. The free flowing interlacing, animal heads and curves incorporating the different symbols are quite stunning and would uplift anyone’s spirit. The centre piece of the pelican feeding her young as a symbol of Christ, is surrounded by angels and the symbolic representation of the four evangelists. Grapes and wheat are stylized in other sections and in nearly all areas the colour and condition remains excellent. The sanctuary steps are of polished white Sicilian marble. The mosaic paving was part of William Hague’s design. The work was carried out under William H. Byrne, architect, and Patrick Nolan, builder, to the design of Ludwig Oppenheimer and is certainly a credit to both of the architects, the designer, the builder and the “specially skilled tilers and pavement fixers” who were designated in the contract to do the work.
St John’s Kilkenny, while perhaps not William Hague’s finest achievement, is undoubtedly one of his masterpieces. With William H. Byrne’s additions and the workmanship of all involved with the construction, it is undoubtedly a fine building. The excellent condition in which the church and grounds are kept, are a credit to all involved, and a fitting tribute to the O’Loughlin family who very generously built it.
(Dorcas Birthistle, Old Kilkenny Review 2001)
The original St. John's Abbey is marked by Church Micro IE 295
GC8VFWK and is a little over 200m away.
This cache is very conveniently located opposite the McDonagh train station, and recently has a city bus route KK2 passing opposite too. Stop 10285 is just across the road!
I want to place a Church Micro cache too...
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 ~1500 caches 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.