An Architectual Analysis of St.Mary's Parish Church, Gowran, Co.Kilkenny

Sandra O'Brien
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2004
BA

Subject: Architecture
Country: Ireland
Period: 13th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation is a survey of St.Mary's Parish Church in Gowran, Co.Kilkenny, which the author cites as being "one of the finest Early English Gothic buildings in the country. The first chapter examines the historical and social context at the time of its erection, as well as the proposed identity of its founder and the reasons and motives behind the church's foundation. Then the quthor analyses the church as it stands today , highlighting and accounting for several of its highly unusual features, such as the relationship between the north and south arcades. The third chapter tries to account for the the original pier variation in the nave and to explain the visual disparity of some of the architectural features. The final chapter explores the origins of this unusual architectural practice and to establish precedents, perhaps in England, which display the same degree of pier variation.

Irish Georgian Society

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An Architectual Analysis of St.Mary's Parish Church, Gowran, Co.Kilkenny