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White Abbey,
Kildare
 The
Carmelite Friars accepted the invitation of Lord William de Vesci and came to
Kildare in 1290. This same de Vesci also established the Franciscans in the Grey
Abbey and built the original castle of Kildare. With the suppression of the
monasteries under Henry VIII, White Abbey was surrendered on the 3rd of April,
1539.
The Friars,
however, continued to minister clandestinely to the people of the area during
the next two centuries.
When the
Penal Laws were relaxed in the 1750s the Carmelites returned to Kildare and
erected a church and a school close to or on the original 1290 foundation. This
eighteenth century church served the Carmelites and the people in the district
for more than one hundred years.
The
foundation stone of the present church was laid on the 8th of December, 1884.
The architect was William Hague who designed churches in the Pugin style. The
church is therefore gothic in design and the builder was John Harris of
Monasterevan, who used Wicklow granite and local stone from Boston, Rathangan.
The church
is cruciform in plan with the nave being set off with alternating window and
arched roof-truss. The transepts are defined by
polished granite pillars with moulded bases and carved caps which support arches
in line with the walls of the nave. The side chapels are seen from the transepts
and chancel through arches springing from moulded piers which also support the
large chancel arch with its polished granite corbel shafts, moulded bases and
carved caps.
The
principal entrance doorway faces east with pillared jambs, carved tympanum and
moulded arches set in a projecting porch. The tower, with its lantern belfry,
extends above the level of the nave roof. It has deeply recessed windows on each
face and is finished with a moulded cornice. From this point the tapering spire
rises to a height of 140 feet and is surmounted by a cross.
 On
the north transept wall of the church are inserted - for safe keeping - some
interesting fifteenth/sixteenth century stone sculptures which came from the
ruins of the Franciscan Grey Abbey. They are similar to the carvings from Great
Connell and Dunfierth, also in Co Kildare, and probably came from the same
workshop.
The stained
glass in the church includes scenes from the lives of Our Lord and the Blessed
Virgin Mary, from the Scapular Vision, as well as Saints Patrick and Brigid, and
the four Evangelists. The rose window over the main entrance is of special
interest with its centre piece being the Prophet Elijah, the spiritual founder
of the Order. The surrounding panels show St Telesphorus, St Dionysius, St
Albert (Patriarch of Jerusalem), St Andrew Corsini, St Cyril of Alexandria, St
Louis IX, St Angelus, and St Albert of Sicily.
Friary Mass times, etc.
Contacts:
Rev Fr
Prior, O.Carm.,
Carmelite
Friary,
White
Abbey,
Kildare
Town.
Tel: 045
521391.
Fax: 045
522318.
Email:
whiteabbey@eircom.net
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