Parish History

Naas (Nás na Rí) means the 'meeting place of the kings'. The kings in question were the Kings of Leinster, whose main residence was here until the beginning of the 10th century. There are good reasons for believing that the present St. David's Church stands on the site of a much earlier building, possibly dedicated to St. Patrick, who is said to have visited the site a number of times on his missionary journeys. The ancient baptismal font preserved here in the sanctuary certainly predates the present building.

In the opinion of Archdeacon Maurice de Burgh, Rector of Naas (1858 - 1894): "of the origin of the present church there can be very little question. The barony of Naas was granted to William Fitzgerald by Henry II in 1176. This Anglo Norman possession was followed by the settlement of a colony from Wales; and these colonists built the church, and dedicated it to the great saint of Pembrokeshire, whence they came St. David." There is also architectural evidence that the craftsmen in timber and stone who built the nave of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin in 1190 and those who built St. David's were one and the same.

The first recorded reference to St. David's Church occurs in a document of 1212, when it was listed as one of the possessions of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. It was a place of some ecclesiastical importance and flourished for the next 400 years. When it was listed in the Inquisition of James 1 in 1606 it had grown to contain three chantries The Holy Trinity, St. Mary and St.Catherine. The outline of St. Mary's chantry is clearly visible along the south side of the present church. It was still in use in the 1830s and Archdeacon de Burgh [aments the fact that it was pulled down at the instigation of his predecessor the Rev. Walter de Burgh: “In an evil hour he, with the best intentions, invoked the aid of the late Ecclesiastical vengeance, sweeping away the remains of St.Mary’s aisle, wherein the prayer desk and pulpit were situated, and erecting an enormous structure of a lofty pulpit and expansive reading pew right in front of the chancel arch."

As for the tower, it has an interesting history. A deed of the 1 9th April 1767 describes the steeple as being in such a ruinous state that it was resolved to pull it down and build another, "which steeple shall be built after the manner of Saint Patrick's, Dublin, sufficient to contain a ring of eight bells of equal size with the bells of St. Patrick's steeple". The good folk of Naas certainly had ambition, but alas it came to nothing, for the noted traveller, Austin Cooper, who visited the area in 1781 states; "The church in Naas is very plain, with the chancel in ruins. A steeple was begun here last year by Lord Mayo, and carried only for one story; he has again undertaken the work and began it last Monday, and when I was here I saw him overseeing the workmen. I visited this place on August 7th 1782 and found only a second story finished and no sign of continuance of the work." It is said that the good Earl had a disagreement with the local clergy and took his patronage elsewhere, hence Kill has a steeple and Naas does not! By then, unfortunately, he had already erected a marble plaque on the wall of the second story anticipating his achievement in a pompous Latin phrase in imitation of Augustus:

RUINAM INVENI PYRAMIDEM RELIQUI MAYO MDCCLXXXI

I found a ruin, I left a steeple" The unfinished tower and its plaque are an amusing monument to an ambitious failure! How strange that he didn't bother to have the plaque removed. The tower contains one other item of interest, a bell which presumably hung originally in the earlier steeple. It was cast in 1674 and has an inscription in Latin as follows:

OS MEUM LAUDABIT DOMINUM IN ECCLESIA S. DAVIDIS DE NMS

(My mouth shall praise the Lord in the church of St. David at Naas) The Inspection is followed by the initials “W.C.R.P.” These would seem to refer to William Cory and Roger Purdoe, the two principal members of a company of bell founders who came from Salisbury in 1671 to re-cast the bells of St. Patrick's in Dublin. Records show that it wasn't only the chancel and the tower that were in need of attention at that time, for in 1789 the sum of £118 11 s 3d was spent on the roof, presumably for complete re-roofing. It was to be two hundred years before it got similar attention again as part of the recent restoration by which time the roof alone cost £80,000 to replace! The restoration of 1789 incorporated the removal of the plastered ceiling and its replacement with an open timbered roof, the restoration of the ruined chancel, new wooden floors and new furniture at a total cost of £1360. The restoration of 1989 cost £250, 000! During the recent restoration much excitement was 'caused by the discovery of a crypt, complete with occupants. Workmen digging a trench along the south side of the church came upon a bricked up archway which gave access to a sizeable L-shaped crypt which extended back under the nave of the church. Just inside the arch on the floor were the remains of 5 coffins containing 3 male bodies, one female and one child. The identity of the occupants remains a mystery, but its seems likely that they were from a noble family who lived in the area over 300 years ago. A second, smaller crypt was discovered halfway down the church on the south side, also with its complement of bones. The larger crypt is opened on special occasions. Even a cursory glance at the plaques and stained glass windows shows the strong association of the de Burgh family with this church. Members of the family are still actively involved in the life of the congregation at the time of writing.

For this Brief History I have drawn Heavily on the work of Paddy Behan & Brian McCabe of the Naas Local History Group and Daphne Wright, who played an invaluable role in the recent restoration.