Kilskeery’s parish church brings together an eighteenth-century building, a Victorian restoration supported from overseas and stained glass made by the Dublin studio An Túr Gloine.
Illustration, Gate House to the former Manse at Kilskeery, County Tyrone
⊕Recorded locationKilskeery54.44256° N · 7.53755° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
Cill Scíre· Irish · main form · validated name
Kilskeery· English · main form
Place & story
The church and its spire
Kilskeery’s Church of Ireland church has a square tower topped by an octagonal spire. The Dictionary of Irish Architects reproduces Samuel Lewis’s account that the church was built in 1790 at the expense of the Reverend Dr Hastings. Lewis also recorded that the original spire was replaced in 1830 using parish funds. These details trace successive investments in the building that became a defining feature of the village.[2]
The restoration of 1890
The Bishop of Clogher reopened the church after extensive restoration in March 1890. A contemporary News Letter report, republished in 2021, described a new open timber roof, flooring, pitch-pine benches, a pulpit and communion rail. Architect Thomas Elliott of Enniskillen directed the design, with McClelland of Derry as contractor. The work cost £800. Contributions came from abroad as well as locally: Captain J. H. McCullagh in New York sent £100, while James Browne provided a memorial font for his father.[3]
The Porter memorial window
The sanctuary’s eastern window was made by An Túr Gloine in memory of the Reverend John Gray Porter. The Church of Ireland’s Gloine survey dates it to 1906 and documents Beatrice Elvery’s design and painting, with O’Brien contributing drawing and painting. Three tall lancets show the Prodigal Son, Christ as the Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan, with angels above. The window connects a rural Tyrone church with the Irish stained-glass revival centred on the Dublin studio.[4]
Both censuses use the same 2015 settlement boundary. These exact counts cover usual residents in the settlement, rather than local government districts or historic counties. Other NISRA tables may use approximate counts.
View population figures
KILSKEERY — Settlement 2015 (N11000597) — census population
Gate House to the former Manse at Kilskeery, County Tyrone illustration: based on a Gate House to the former Manse at Kilskeery by Kenneth Allen. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
placenames