{{Short description|Ruined medieval church in Ireland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox church | name = Donaghcumper Church | full_name = | other_name = Old Donaghcumper Church; Donacomper, Donnacompare, Donnacompar, Dennycomfert, Downecumper, Donaghcomper, Donocomfert, Donocomper | native_name = Domhnach Compair<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/25359|title=Domhnach Compair/Donaghcumper|website=Logainm.ie}}</ref> | native_name_lang = ga | image = Donaghcumper Church, Celbridge.jpg | image_size = | imagelink = | alt =

| caption = East end with ogee windows | pushpin_map = Dublin#Ireland | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_mapsize = | relief = yes | map_caption = Location in Greater Dublin##Location in Ireland | coordinates = {{coord|53.339782|N|6.527978|W|display=inline,title|format=dms}} | osgraw = <!-- TEXT --> | location = Donaghcumper, Celbridge, County Kildare | country = Ireland | denomination = Church of Ireland | previous_denomination = Pre-Reformation Catholic | churchmanship =

| former_name = | founded = 12th century | founder = | dedication = Saint Brigid<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQ-NOPhwH1YC&q=Tulacrumper&pg=PA465|title=Register of the Abbey of St Thomas, Dublin|first=John Thomas|last=Gilbert|date=15 November 2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108053396|via=Google Books}}</ref> | dedicated = | consecrated = | events = | status = | functional_status = ruined | embedded = | designated = | architect = | architectural_type = | style = | years_built = | groundbreaking = | completed = | construction_cost = | closed = 18th century | demolished =

| capacity = | length = | width = | height = | materials = limestone, mortar | diocese = Dublin and Glendalough | parish = Celbridge & Straffan with Newcastle Lyons | province = Dublin and Cashel }} thumb|The west window. '''Donaghcumper Church''' is a ruined medieval church in Celbridge, Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhMSAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Donaghcumper+Church%22|title=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland|first=Royal Society of Antiquaries of|last=Ireland|date=13 November 2018|publisher=The Society|via=Google Books}}</ref> On the Record of Monuments and Places it bears the code ''KD011-013''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/Planning/DevelopmentPlans/ActionAreaPlans/CelbridgeDonaghcumperActionAreaPlan/LinkToDocument,14286,en.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 November 2018 |archive-date=24 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524152639/http://kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/Planning/DevelopmentPlans/ActionAreaPlans/CelbridgeDonaghcumperActionAreaPlan/LinkToDocument,14286,en.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crsbooks.net/personal/fred/fredpages/donaghcumper.html|title=Hermann Geissel's Personal Web Site|website=www.crsbooks.net}}</ref>

==Location==

Donaghcumper Church is located 800 m (½ mile) east of Celbridge town centre, on the R403 road (Dublin Road).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/Planning/DevelopmentPlans/LocalAreaPlans/CelbridgeLocalAreaPlan2017-2023/10.1%20natural%20heritage.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 November 2018 |archive-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113210812/http://www.kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/Planning/DevelopmentPlans/LocalAreaPlans/CelbridgeLocalAreaPlan2017-2023/10.1%20natural%20heritage.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJqfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Donaghcumper%22|title=Kildare: History and Society|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Geography Publications|isbn=9780906602577|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sources.nli.ie/Record/PS_UR_057543|title=Holdings: Donacomper Church.|website=sources.nli.ie|year=1896}}</ref>

==History==

This may have been a Christian site as early as the 5th century. The name means "church of the confluence"; the word ''Domhnach'' (from Latin ''dominica'', "of the Lord") is traditionally assumed (due to a note in the 9th-century Book of Armagh) to belong to the earliest churches in Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JiViCAAAQBAJ&q=dominica+domhnach&pg=PA85|title=Valhalla and the Fjšrd : A Spiritual Motorcycle Journey through the History of Strangford Lough|first=Peter|last=Moore|date=13 November 2018|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781909906266|via=Google Books}}</ref> The River Shinkeen, a small stream, enters the River Liffey 550 m to the north of Donaghcumper. A ''Domnach Combair'' appears in the ''Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii'' (9th century), although that appears to be located in Dál nAraidi, in the northeast of Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/tripartitepatrick00stokuoft|title=The Tripartite life of Patrick : with other documents relating to that saint|first1=Saint|last1=Patrick|first2=Whitley|last2=Stokes|date=13 November 1887|publisher=London : Printed for H.M. Stationery Office., by Eyre and Spottiswoode|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The earliest part of the church was built c. 1150–60, around the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland. In 1202 control of the church was given to St. Wolstan's Priory by the de Hereford family (Adam de Hereford and descendants). Cut-stone windows were added in the 14th century (c. 1340).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kildarelocalhistory.ie/celbridge/history-of-celbridge/churches-monasteries/|title=Churches & Monasteries – Kildare Local History . ie|website=kildarelocalhistory.ie}}</ref>

The church was suppressed in the Reformation and the lands acquired by John Alan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was buried at Donaghcumper in 1561, as was his nephew John Alen in 1616, and John's son Sir Thomas Alen, 1st Baronet in 1627. Donaghcumper became a Church of Ireland (Anglican Protestant) church and was active for about 200 years.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/journalcokildar01socigoog|quote=Donnacomper.|title=Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society and Surrounding Districts|first=County Kildare Archaeological|last=Society|date=13 November 1899|publisher=The Society|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1690, a James Warren was parish priest.

A sketch of 1770 shows the church with a roof and a tower in the west end. A map of 1783 lists the site as ''Ch. Rs.'' (church ruins) and the 1897 map lists it as ruinous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://irelandinruins.blogspot.com/2013/06/old-donaghcumper-church-co-kildare.html|title=Ireland In Ruins: Old Donaghcumper Church Co Kildare|last=Castlehunter|date=1 June 2013}}</ref> However, the church is surrounded by a still-active graveyard; the earliest-dated grave still legible is that of a Nicholas Walsh, died 1711.

In 2000 some renovation took place, and in 2017 funding of €7,500 was allocated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kildarenow.com/news/co-kildare-medieval-church-gets-restoration-funding/162498|title=Co Kildare medieval church gets restoration funding - Kildare Now|first=Kildare|last=Now}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/local-news/248054/kildare-pubs-and-churches-among-buildings-to-receive-heritage-grant-cash.html|title=Kildare pubs and churches among buildings to receive heritage grant cash}}</ref>

==Buildings== thumb|Porch in the south wall. Portions of the nave and chancel remain. The Alen vault is located at the east end of the chancel. The east gable has an ogee window, and the west gable has a belfry. A round semicircular arch divides nave and chancel, and there is a gabled porch in the south end and a piscina in the east. Of the tower in the west, only one wall remains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ardclough.wordpress.com/about/ardclough-history/xtras-hinterland-history-celbridge-straffan/donaghcumper-by-william-kirkpatrick-1896/|title=Donaghcumper by William Kirkpatrick (1896)|date=5 February 2013}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Donaghcumper interior 1.jpg File:Donaghcumper interior 2.jpg File:Donaghcumper interior 3.jpg File:Donaghcumper interior 4.jpg </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Cemeteries in County Kildare Category:Religion in County Kildare Category:Archaeological sites in County Kildare Category:Former churches in the Republic of Ireland Category:Churches in County Kildare Category:12th-century churches in Ireland Category:Celbridge