Crooke Preceptory

Crooke Preceptory is a ruined church, traditionally associated with the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller, in County Waterford, Ireland. It is located in the townland of Crooke and the present day parish of Killea Crooke and Faithlegg. The church is associated with the nearby (13th century) Crook Castle tower house.

History

Crooke Preceptory was founded sometime before 1180. Together with nearby Crooke Castle, the site passed to the Knights Hospitallers of Killure in 1327. It was seized at the time of destruction of the monasteries in 1541, and its possessions were reduced to 120 acres. It is thought to have become a parish church of Crooke, with records describing the church as being "in good repair" as of 1613.

The remains of Crooke Castle lie approximately 50 metres south of Crooke Preceptory's church

Structures

Surrounded by a graveyard, the ruin of the Crooke Preceptory church is described by the Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford (1999) as 24.6 metres (81 ft) in length and 6.75 metres (22.1 ft) in width. There is "evidence of one window in the S[outh] chancel wall", a "doorway in the S[outh] nave wall with a stoup nearby", with three lancet windows on the church gable.

Surrounded by cut-stone walls ("that are 16th/17th century in character") there is a holy well site and ruined tower house nearby. The latter, known as Crooke Castle, and located less than 50m from the church, was built to a rectangular ground plan and reputedly had a height of approximately 8 metres (26 ft). While only two walls and the remains of a destroyed staircase survive, mid-19th century records suggest that a barrel vault then "partly survived".

References

Sources

• Gwynn, A; Hadcock, R.N. (1970). Medieval religious houses in Ireland. Irish Academic Press. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. pp. 329–336.
• Lewis, Samuel (1837). "Crook, a parish". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Lewis. Crook, a parish, in the barony of Gaultier, county of Waterford [..] A castle was founded here in the 13th century by the Baron of Curraghmore, which subsequently became a preceptory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem
• Moore, Michael (1999). Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford. Dublin: Government Stationery Office. WA018-023001- [..] Religious house - Knights Hospitallers [..] Townland: Crooke [..] A preceptory of the Knights Templar was founded at Crooke before 1180, but its possessions passed to the Knights Hospitallers of Killure (WA017-018001-) in 1327 [..] As a parish church it was described as in good repair in 1613
• Power, Patrick (1891). "The Ancient Ruined Churches of Co. Waterford". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 1 (6): 475–482. JSTOR 25507797.
• Power, Rev. P. (1933). "A Short History of County Waterford" (PDF) – via Waterford County Council. The following is a list of the monasteries suppressed in Co. Waterford: [..] the Hospitallers' houses of Crook, Killure, Kilbarry and Rinncru
• "Historic Scenic Drive". discoverdunmore.com. In the thirteenth century the Knights Templars established a preceptory at Crooke with a strong castle, of which only a corner survives [..] at the nearby overgrown holy well
• "Historic Waterford - The Coast" (PDF). waterfordcouncil.ie. Waterford County Council. Retrieved 12 August 2021. By the suppression of the monasteries in 1541, the possessions of the former monastery at Crooke had reduced to 120 acres and it is likely that the church functioned as a parish church [..] Crooke Tower House - is located 50m to the south of the church
• WAJ, ed. (1902). Documents illustrating the history of Waterford: 1 – The Protestant diocese of Waterford in 1615. WAJ 8. pp. 103–19.