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Naas Local History
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St David's Church Naas
St David's Church was built on the site of an earlier Irish
Celtic Church dedicated to the local St Corban or St Patrick.
The Norman Barons who settled in the Naas area rebuilt the church
and dedicated it to St David, the Patron Saint of Wales. The
first historical reference to St David's occurs in 1212 when
it was listed as one of the possessions of the Hospitallers
of St John of Jerusalem. It was the parish church of Naas, well
endowed and a place of ecclesiastical importance. For the next
400 years it continued to flourish, and by 1606, when St David's
featured in the inquisition of James I, it had grown to contain
three chantries - the Holy Trinity, St Mary, and St Catherine.
In 1767 the original church Steeple was in a ruinous state and
it was decided to pull it down. Some time later Lord Mayo decided
to replace it. But the new tower was never completed. A plaque
on the inside wall of the tower states "I found a ruin and left
a steeple, Mayo 1783".The bell dates from 1674 and originally
hung in the old steeple. The Baptismal Font is a relic of the
early Irish Christian Church and most probably was in use in
the pre-Norman church of Saint Corban.
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