| Hospital Church | |||||||
| Native Name: | Teampall an Ospidéil | ||||||
| Native Name Lang: | ga | ||||||
| Pushpin Map: | Ireland | ||||||
| Relief: | yes | ||||||
| Coordinates: | 52.4763°N -8.4326°W | ||||||
| Country: | Ireland | ||||||
| Denomination: | Catholic (pre-Reformation) | ||||||
| Status: | ruined | ||||||
| Functional Status: | inactive | ||||||
| Embedded: |
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| Years Built: | by 1215 | ||||||
| Closed Date: | 1540 | ||||||
| Length: | 35m (115feet) | ||||||
| Width: | 9m (30feet) | ||||||
| Floor Count: | 1 | ||||||
| Floor Area: | 315m2 | ||||||
| Materials: | stone, mortar | ||||||
| Diocese: | Limerick | ||||||
Hospital Church is a ruined medieval fortified church of the Knights Hospitaller in Hospital, County Limerick, Ireland. It is a National Monument.[1] [2]
The church was founded before 1215 by Geoffrey de Marisco (d. 1245) as a commandery of the Knights Hospitaller who had owned land in the area since 1200.[3] It was dissolved in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and then leased, along with its contents, to William Aspley and later to the Browne family; a new church was later built next to it.[3]
The church was built for defence with high walls, prominent base batter and narrow arched windows. The tower at the west end had a barrel vault on the second floor, some of which survives. Architectural fragments and a medieval carving of the crucifixion have been set into the west wall.[3] The tops of two tombs with effigies dating to the 13th–14th century have been placed upright against the east interior wall: a tomb of a knight (possibly Geoffrey de Marisco)[4] and a badly damaged double tomb of a knight and his wife.[3] [5]