St Enda’s, Killanny

History

The present church at Tullydrum was built in 1917. It is suggested that the parish of Killanny is an amalgamation of two older parishes, one in the townland of Annahean and the other in the townland of Killanny with its parish church of St Ultan.

The name Killanny is variously explained as an anglicised form of Cill Enna, the church of Enda, of Cill Annaigh, the church of the march, and of Coill Fhanaidh, the wood of the slope. The first is the most popularly accepted. The parish records that St Enda was the son of Conall, a chieftain of Oriel, that he was persuaded to become a Christian while visiting the convent of his sister St Fanchea, that he founded a church at Killanny, and that he died in 542. His feast day is 21st March.

The parish population was 4,896 in 1841 and had declined to 3,394 by 1851. It stood at 1,590 in 1901 and at 1,124 in the diocesan census of 1990.

Notable features

St Ultan's Bell is of uncertain age but is believed to be over 200 years old. It was removed from the old church at Killanny and moved to the church at Tullydrum, and carries the inscription "St Ultan, Our Patron, Pray for us."

A statue stands in a grotto within the church grounds, erected in 1954, the Marian Year. It was purchased at the request of the parish priest, Canon McConnell, and the local Irish Countrywomen's Association guild collected the 100 guineas to buy it. The statue was made in Belgium and depicts Our Lady of Banneux, who was reported to have appeared to an 11 year old girl eight times at Banneux on 15th January 1933.

In the southeast of the parish, in the townland of Killanny, is a cemetery attached to one of the parish's oldest churches, containing the remains of three private chapels and the walls of a friary. When the fabric of that church was sold, the remains interred in it were transferred to the cemetery opened and blessed in 1917. The oldest inscription recorded in the old graveyard is of 1706 and the most recent of 1921.

Notable people

Rev. Dr James Callan, rector of the united parishes of Magheracloone and Killanny and Vicar General of the Diocese of Clogher, is buried in a crypt in Killanny old graveyard. He died on 25th October 1751, aged 53.