The Gate Lodge was the only one on the estate and guarded the main tree-lined avenue to Kilteevan House which was owned by the Mapother family.

Today the building has no internal divisions but originally contained a kitchen and bedroom with a loft over the bedroom. The rooms were divided by a stone chimney breast, which was removed in recent times. The piers leading into the house at the gate lodge entrance were relocated close by. It is believed locally that the avenue was lined by magnificent Californian Redwoods, which were later felled, cut and sawn up locally for use a fence posts.

Tradition claims that Kilteevan House, constructed on the site of an earlier 17th century Mapother residence, was begun in 1710, partially finished in 1711 and completed in 1713. A carved stone, bearing the date 1711 (now missing) lay for years in the undergrowth adjacent to the house ruin. It is supposed to have come from the coach house.

The house was a substantial three bay-two storey over basement building with a classical Grecian–style portico over the main entrance. The 1901 Census states that 17 rooms in the house were occupied.

15 farm buildings were also listed; 4 stables, 2 sheds, coach house, harness room, cow house, calf house, dairy, fowl house, barn, turf house and potato house. Only the ruins of the basement, several outbuildings, and stables have survived. There was also a fine orchard on the estate. Some locals recall the adventure of scaling the wall to get into the orchard and helping themselves to the Mapothers’ fruit.

A layout of the demesne can be seen in the O.S. map of 1914 which shows the buildings, gardens with pathways and a pheasantry. The last of the family, called ‘Miss Mary’, died in 1932 and the Estate was divided by the Land Commission in 1942.

PLEASE NOTE:
The Gate Lodge is on private property, and this sign is placed here with the kind permission of Mattie and Gertie Murphy.

The medieval church ruin at Cloontogher has been dated to the 12th or 13th century but the site itself was probably an earlier Christian foundation.

The church has been associated in local memory with St Bridget and St Kevin. The name Cloontogher can translate as the meadow of the togher or causeway. This is most likely the translation for this locality as evidence of a togher has been found in a nearby townland.

The church, aligned roughly east-west, measures 6.35m by 11.60 internally. The northern wall and the eastern gable are well intact but much of the southern and western walls are missing. Three windows remain, with the eastern window being the most elaborate. The carved east window was described by Leask (1943) as “interesting and beautiful and a good example of the ingenuity of late 15th or early 16th century Irish mason-craft”.

During the clean-up of the site in 1989 many dressed and carved stones from the church were found.Window heads, sills, jamb stones, mouldings and lintels were recovered. A simple stone cross, the shaft of which is broken was also found. Its type is difficult to date, but it may be as early as the 10th century. A number of graves are marked with field stones which bear no inscription or carving. A few graves are also marked with holed stones. These are probably naturally occurring but could hint at a pre-Christian origin. There are however, no rituals or traditions associated with the stones at this site.

The area surrounding the church, which is enclosed by a roughly circular wall, has been used for continuous burial down through the years. The Mapother burial crypt is attached to the eastern end of the church. The oldest decipherable inscription of 1711 is on the wall memorial to the Mapother family in the church interior. The oldest one within the graveyard itself is 1718 (Coner).

The adjoining section of graveyard was opened in 1950. The grave of an Irish US Army veteran, Patrick A. Garvey, can be found here. Donal Brennan, from Clooncraff, (Kilteevan), former Manager of Aer Lingus in Europe, is also interred here.

THE MAPOTHER CRYPT

Four Mapother memorials, a table tomb, an altar tomb, a recumbent marble memorial and a wall memorial are located in the interior of the church within the area enclosed by railings. There is also a headstone to the family at the eastern end of the crypt. The burial crypt measures approximately 3.8m by 3.9m with the side walls an average height of 1.6m approximately.

The eastern gable wall is difficult to measure due to ivy growth but is in the region of 2.1m high. In general the structure is in a ruinous state as vegetation roots have penetrated its fabric and the ivy has obscured much of its features. It was brick-lined with an outer wall of limestone. A section of wall at the eastern gable was replaced in concrete by local council workers, probably in the 1960s, as the crypt had been vandalised. Local lore claims that the coffins within the crypt were lead-lined and the lead was being stolen for resale.

In the 1990s the local graveyard committee carried out some emergency repair work to the northern side of the crypt as a section of the wall had fallen and the inner brickwork was exposed. The wall was rebuilt in dry stone but this has recently collapsed leaving a large section of brickwork uncovered.

The building at the heart of the parish at its central crossroads has played a prominent role in the life of the parish since the early nineteenth century.

It has had many uses since its construction. Firstly as a place of worship, then as a business premises and in more recent years Kilteevan Community Centre. Following an extensive restoration project the Centre was officially opened by President of Ireland, Mary McAleese on 4th February 2011.Within this building is the magnificent ceiling, hand painted by the Brentini brothers in 1904.

EARLY HISTORY AS A CHURCH

Tradition claims that the first church on this site was a thatched church, built under the patronage of the Mapother family, which was used during the week as a school room. Two holy water fonts bearing the date 1782 may have belonged to this early church. Also a worked limestone slab with an incised cross and the date 1793 was recovered during the recent refurbishment works. According to Fr Finan (the first resident curate) the building as we know it today was constructed in two phases. The older part of the church (northern end facing the grotto) was built about 1819 by Dr McDermott, Adm. Roscommon almost on the site of the old thatched church and was also used as a school room. The nave, the central part of the church where the decorated ceiling is, was built about 1842.

In 1904 the church was provided with heating and the ceiling was hand-painted by two Italian artists. On the 15th December 1906 the Blessed Sacrament began to be reserved here. On the same day Fr. John Finan a native of Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, became resident in the parish where he served until 20 July 1922. The other priests who served here were Fr. James MacGowan 1922-1930, Fr. Thomas Mahon 1930-1939, Fr. Patrick Keaney 1939-1945, Fr. J.A. Gannon 1945-1955 and Fr. Thomas Kilroy 1955-1969. It is thought that the church, like the church in Roscommon, was dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The original statue in the grotto was also of the Sacred Heart and processions were held on his feast day. It remained in use as a place of worship 

until 1963. It was with much sadness that the people of Kilteevan received the news that the church had been condemned by the Diocesan Architect Mr B. Rhatigan, Sligo. The decision was to replace it with a new church, St. Joseph’s Church was blessed and dedicated on Sunday 25th August 1963. The last baptism was celebrated in the old church on 24th August 1963 by Rev Thomas Kilroy.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CHURCH

The church was T-shaped in plan with the sacristy (a later extension) and two doors to the north and the main entrance porch to the south. The church bell was housed in the bellcote on the southern gable which is flanked by stone pinnacles. The walls were roughcast-rendered with limestone quoins. The pointed-arched windows also have limestone surrounds and once held beautiful stained glass. The door openings are also pointed arched with limestone surrounds. The door and window openings in the northern elevation have hood mouldings.