A visual history of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland, Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo

Abstract

A Visual History of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland, Ballinrobe Co. Mayo explores the history of this previously under-researched ecclesiastical site in the west of Ireland. This project has uncovered the complex history of the church, tracking the significant changes to the architecture and use of the established ecclesiastical sites in the town which occurred following the Reformation. While the primary locus has been on a visual exploration of the material environments of St. Mary’s Church and its graveyard, there is also an examination of the social milieu of the vanished Protestant community of Ballinrobe, which centred on the town’s former function as a garrison town. As part of this research, the previous suggestion that St. Mary’s was a 19th century structure has been disproven, and the site is now placed as reflecting the Tudor conquest in the region. In addition to this written thesis, the project includes a digital archive, created with the assistance of the National Museum of Country Life, the development of a website exploring the heritage and history of Ballinrobe and the creation of the Ballinrobe Archaeological and Historical Society. As such, this thesis is part of a broader project using primarily visual means to explore heritage.