Church of St Brigid

History

The parish of Kilrush (Cill Rois) takes its name from an ancient church built there many centuries ago, known from its situation as the church of the wood or copse. The parish history records a tradition that the original patron was St Colman, and that by the thirteenth century the dedication of the parish church was to St Brigid. That church stood in the old cemetery in the townland of Ballynaberney.

The first post-Reformation church for the Roman Catholic community in Kilrush stood at Knockaree, in the old cemetery; local tradition holds that the ground was a common before it was used for a church and school. Fr Mark Barry rebuilt it in 1802-1803 and it remained in use until 1843. Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland recorded in 1837 that the chapel at Kilrush was a modern building, with a residence for the priest and a school attached.

In 1843 Fr John French began a permanent church on the same site. He died the following year and the building was completed by his brother, Canon French, before his own death in 1854. That church remained in use until it was replaced by the present structure in 1969.