Church of the Nativity, Johnstown

History

The Parish of Johnstown and Walterstown was created as a union in the early nineteenth century, serving a rural agricultural community around the village of Johnstown. The parish records that large housing developments built in the 1990s changed the character of the area. The parish's own history does not record when the church was built.

Notable features

The church holds a series of stained glass windows commissioned by the parish from the artist George Walsh in the years leading up to 2000.

The Kilcarne Font, also known as the Apostle's Font, stands in the sanctuary of the church and is used as a baptismal font. It was first located in the medieval church of St Stephen in Kilcarne Cemetery and lay buried underground for many years before being recovered and moved to Johnstown church in 1837. It was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in Dublin in 1853. The font carries a central panel of the Coronation of Our Lady and eleven further panels, each depicting an apostle with an identifying emblem. The parish describes it as one of the most important medieval fonts of Meath.