placenamesDanesfort
Dún Feart
St Michael’s church and school preserve community landmarks, while a salvaged portico recalls the Wemyss estate.
The name
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
- Dún Feart · Irish · main form · validated name
- Danesfort · English · main form
Place & story
St Michael’s Church
St Michael’s Catholic Church at Dundaryark, Danesfort, was built in 1812, before Catholic Emancipation. Its cruciform plan, pointed windows and modest decoration reflect an early nineteenth-century rural church. A bellcote rises above one gable, and stained glass lights the interior. Extensive alterations after the Second Vatican Council remodelled the inside while retaining Gothic altar furniture, leaving the building with visible layers from different periods of parish worship. [2]
Schools since 1836
The national school traces its history in Danesfort to 1836. A plaque beside St Michael’s Church marks the site of the demolished original building. The present school opened on 14 November 1988 with two classrooms; a separate third classroom was added in 2013 and connected to the main building in 2019. In late 1999, pupils planted individual trees in a Millennium Garden, creating a living reminder of their school years. [3]
The fate of Danesfort House
Francis McEvoy’s research identified an eighteenth-century drawing of Danesfort House and a remodelling by William Robertson in 1840. Its later decline was recalled in interviews he conducted with local residents in 1979–80. The house was demolished after its purchase around 1916–17, and stone was sold for road repairs. Its portico survived separately: Terence Hutchinson bought it for use at Kellsboro House, preserving part of the vanished residence in another setting. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Kilkenny
- Barony
- Shillelogher
- Civil parish
- Danesfort
- Within
- Danesfort
- Coordinates
- 52.58098, -7.24755 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1412352 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Danesfort. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- St Michael’s Catholic Church, NIAH12402306 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- St Michael’s National School: History · St Michael’s National School, Danesfort
- The Wemyss Family of Danesfort, County Kilkenny, Old Kilkenny Review2006, pp127–138 · Francis McEvoy / Kilkenny Archaeological Society
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2018-03-09. How this page was prepared.