Kilteel – How Relics Are Lost (1961)
The Leinster Leader of 2 September 1961 included an interesting short article on the ruined church at Kilteel, County Kildare. It can be read here Kilteel – How Relics are Lost
It is attributed to B.J.K.B. and it highlights the stone carvings and other features at the ruins at Kilteel that H.G. Leask, Inspector of National Monuments for the Board of Works, had written about in 1934 when the ruins were taken into State Care. The 1961 article focuses on the wonderful carvings found in the ruined Parish Church at Kilteel, that depict Adam and Eve, David and Goliath amongst others.
The ruins would subsequently be thoroughly investigated and excavated prior to conservation under the direction of Conleth Manning (with excavation work undertaken by two Kildare County Council employees, volunteers from the County Kildare Archaeological Society and Rathmichael Historical Society). Conleth Manning subsequently contributed articles on the subject to the Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society.
Further Sources:
Leask, H.G. ‘Carved Stones Discovered At Kilteel, Co. Kildare’, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, Vol. LXV, No. 1, 1935, pp. 1-8. Available on JSTOR here
Manning, Conleth. ‘Excavation at Kilteel Church’, Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society, Vol. XVI, 1977-1986, pp. 173-229. Available open access via this link
Manning, Conleth. ‘Kilteel Revisited’, Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society, Vol. 19, 1996, 296-300.
