Crooke Preceptory is a ruined church, traditionally associated with the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...

and the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, in

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for ...

, Ireland. It is located in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of Crooke and the present day parish of Killea Crooke and Faithlegg. The church is associated with the nearby (13th century) Crook Castle

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strate ...

History

Crooke Preceptory was founded sometime before 1180. Together with nearby Crooke Castle, the site passed to the Knights Hospitallers of Killure in 1327. It was seized at the time of destruction of the monasteries in 1541, and its possessions were reduced to 120 acres. It is thought to have become a parish church of Crooke, with records describing the church as being "in good repair" as of 1613.

Structures

Surrounded by a graveyard, the ruin of the Crooke Preceptory church is described by the ''Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford'' (1999) as in length and in width. There is "evidence of one window in the S

uth UTH or Uth may refer to: Universities * University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston * University of Texas at Houston (School of Public Health, Medical School, Dental Branch, ...) * University of Thessaly, Greek University * Universidad Te ...

chancel wall", a "doorway in the S

nave wall with a stoup nearby", with three

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and ...

s on the church gable. Surrounded by cut-stone walls ("that are 16th/17th century in character") there is a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

site and ruined

nearby. The latter, known as Crooke Castle, and located less than 50m from the church, was built to a rectangular ground plan and reputedly had a height of approximately . While only two walls and the remains of a destroyed staircase survive, mid-19th century records suggest that a barrel vault then "partly survived".

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{coord, 52.228, -6.980, region:IE_type:landmark, display=title Knights Templar Preceptories of the Knights Hospitaller Christian monasteries in the Republic of Ireland Religious buildings and structures in County Waterford Ruins in the Republic of Ireland