Talk on the eight churches of Charleville

The forthcoming Charleville Heritage Society’s April talk on Thursday, 4th April will be delivered by Owen Binchy.

Owen’s talk will include the ruined graveyard church at the town’s Holy Cross Cemetery, the pre-1812 Mass House, the two Protestant churches, the Zion Chapel, the former Convent Chapel, and the present Holy Cross Church.

This will include what Owen describes as the corner of the church with connections to Charleville Freemasonry Lodge 49. He will also have copies of his new book, ‘Charleville, Its Origins and Development’ on sale on the night, priced €20.

Entry fee to the meeting is €5. The meeting starts at 7.30pm at the Charleville Park Hotel, and it is open to everybody to attend.

HERITAGE SOCIETY AWAITS ARCHAEOLOGY REPORT ON CHARLEVILLE SITE

Evelyn O’Keeffe, chair of Charleville Heritage Society, has posted a page on the society website stating that the members are looking forward to the archaeologist’s report, due in September, from the construction site at the rear of the Charleville Park Hotel on the grounds of what was Sanders Park House estate.

This may tie in with the medieval settlement dating from 1200 AD to 1550 AD at Creggane, or Croughane, on the Cork Limerick border, roughly 5.5km from Charleville town centre. It is well known locally that there was a castle at Creggane; however, there was also an abandoned medieval settlement dating from 1200 to 1550.

Cregan Castle had what is known as a ‘Turreted Peel Tower and Bawn’. The presence of a tower house can often indicate a former medieval settlement in its vicinity as the people in the settlement would have to be protected in the event of a raid. The medieval settlement is not far from the site of the old Creggane Castle, as indicated in aerial footage of the site. THE BAWN

The largest defensive feature that the tower house could have was a bawn, and Creggane Castle had one. This was usually a thre- metre high wall that surrounded the town to form an enclosure.

This feature could have prevented attackers from gaining direct access to the tower house. To do so they would have had to breach the wall first. The bawn wall serves the same purpose as the perimeter wall of a great castle, which protects the keep from enemy assault.

An extract from the book, ‘Ancient Castles of County Limerick’ by Tomas Johnson Westropp 1906-1907 mentions Philip de Prendergast, and a Prendergast family still lived in the nearby townland of Ballinagoul, which is about three miles from Charleville, and still lived in the area until 1911. The records show that a Bartolmew Prendergast living there in 1911. This may be a connection to the Philip de Prendergast who came to Ireland with Strongbow at the time of the Norman invasion in 1169.