History of our Parish

SStamullen Julianstown Parish, Meath lies in the east of the Meath Diocese, and shares boundaries with Drogheda, Laytown/Mornington, Duleek, Ardcath and Balbriggan. The population of the parish today is around 6,500 people.

There are two parish churches; St. Patrick’s Church in Stamullen village and St. Mary’s Church in Julianstown. St. Patrick’s Church was built in 1831, altered in 1961, had a major roof repair in 1992 and underwent a considerable renovation in 2010. St. Mary’s Church was built in 1982 replacing an earlier church in the townland of Dimanistown, Julianstown which was built between 1835 and 1837. The parish is home to the Mosney Village Accommodation Centre and a church also dedicated to St. Patrick is to be found there – erected by Sir William Butlin in 1949.

St. Patrick’s Church, Stamullen

St. Mary’s Church, Julianstown

Fr. Brendan Ferris is our parish priest, and he lives in our Parochial House in Preston Hill, Stamullen.

A Parish Priest appears as the tenant of this house in the Tithe Applotment Book of Stamullen in 1834, and the Parish Priests of Stamullen have lived in this house since at least that year. The house also underwent a considerable renovation in 2010 under the direction of Fr. Declan Kelly, our Parish Priest at that time.

Stamullen Julianstown Parish is steeped in history dating to pre-Christian times. There is a strong tradition that St. Patrick landed at the Delvin River and built a church in the river valley at Stamullen. This relationship with our national saint, however tenuous it may be, would seem to be strengthened by the dedication of the parish church to St. Patrick and the existence of St. Patrick’s Well, situated on the seashore at Mosney.

Several passage tombs are located within the parish; not least the perfect example to be found at Fourknocks. However, a modern history of the parish really dates to the immediate pre-famine years – the 1830’s which saw the erection of the parish churches, and probably the Parochial House also.

There is no information on post-reformation chapels in Stamullen, except that on a map of 1812, a small rectangular chapel appears as on a site which the present church was erected in 1831, its dedication also is to St. Patrick.

One of the outstanding priests of the 19th century in Stamullen was Fr. Patrick Nolan, born about 1790, and he was responsible for the building of St. Patrick’s in 1831 and St. Mary’s in 1837. The inscription on his tomb in the parish church indicates he was parish priest for 38 years.

St. Mary’s Church Dimanistown - In the early 19th century a site for a new church was donated by the Osborne family of Dardistown Castle. This new church was built at Dimanistown on the southern banks of the river Nanny. (The old church has now become a community centre).

A new Church was built at Ballygarth and was dedicated by The Most Reverend John McCormack, Bishop of Meath on Sunday, 29th August 1982. The ‘new church’ of St. Mary is linked with many important events in Irish history, stretching back to the landing of St. Patrick at the mouth of the Delvin river. The stone door frame of St. Mary’s Church was taken from the old church and re-used and is surrounded by a wood carved Blessed Virgin with kneeling children.

The Register of Baptisms for the parish begins in the 1830’s, as does the Register of Marriages. A National School was established at Stamullen, beside the Church in October 1841 and at Whitecross, Julianstown in 1842. The Primate of All Ireland, Dr. Patrick Curtis, was born in Stamullen in 1746 and his obituary from 1832 stated that “he derived his classical education at a school in the village of Stamullen”.

There are three cemeteries of historical significance still in use in the parish: Stamullen, Moorechurch and Kilsharvan. Burials still take place in all three.

Of considerable note in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Stamullen is the Cadaver Stone, dating from the Black Death period, the fourteenth century. There are only nine such stones in Ireland.

The Chapel in Moorechurch Cemetery is home to the ruins of one of the oldest churches in Julianstown. There is no definite date for when it was built but the first reference to Moorechurch Parish appears in the Papal Taxation of 1302. By 1693, it was reported that the ‘Church and Chancel were in ruins since 1641’. For some time over those 300 years there must have been a community gathering in this church. The walls of this ancient church with its nave and chancel can still be seen. It measures approx. 26 metres long by 9 metres wide. A very old gravestone can be seen in the ruins, dating from 1597 and erected to the memory of Genet (Janet) Sarsfield whose family was associated with the townland of Sarsfieldstown nearby. She married into the Talbot family and lived in Dardistown Castle also in the area.