St Doulagh's Church () is the oldest stone-roofed church still in use in Ireland. It is situated approximately 10 kilometres from Dublin city, just north of the hamlet of Balgriffin, within Fingal and in the traditional County Dublin, and is marked as "St Doulagh's Church, Balgriffin". Its complex also comprises an octagonal baptistry built over a holy well - Ireland's only surviving standalone baptistry - and a stone housing over a pool. St Doulagh's is one of the two churches in the Church of Ireland "United Parishes of Malahide, Portmarnock and St Doulagh's.
History and status
The oldest part of the church as it stands is medieval dating from the 12th century, and believed to have been home to a small monastic settlement. However, according to studies on the site, Christian activity here dates back to the time of St. Patrick.
Hudson (2005) states that King Sitric of Dublin gave land at St Doulough's, Portrane and Reachrain (probably Lambay Island) to Holy Trinity (Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin). In 1179, Pope Alexander III gave the "church lands at Clochar" to Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin, so it was already church land - but there was no mention of a building. In regard to the other sites mentioned in the papal document, buildings are noted, suggesting that there may have been no useful building then at St Doulough's. The Canons Regular of St Augustine had by then been administering Christ Church. It seems possible that construction of the present building started about that time. However, there is no mention of a church at St Doulough's in the papal taxation lists of the early 14th century.
It is not until 1406 that the first definite mention of a church at St Doulough's is made, when indulgences were granted by the Archbishop of Armagh to all who visited the church of St Doulough in the diocese of Dublin and confessed their sins to the resident chaplain Eustace Roche, and made a payment to the church. Rachel Moss believes that the church referred to is the eastern end of the medieval building and speculates that the funds generated may have then spurred building expansion. It seems likely from all this that construction of the present building started soon after the granting of the site to Holy Trinity by the Pope, and that additions and alterations were made in succeeding centuries, the dates of which are guesswork based on various narratives.
Following the English Reformation, the church and its assets came into the control of the Established church. The majority Roman Catholic population was obliged to conduct its services elsewhere, often in private accommodations. There was a regular "pattern" held at the church until at least the 18th century. Since 1974, the church of the Holy Trinity in Donaghmede has served the Roman Catholic parishioners of that area, including later-built Clongriffin, and Balgriffin.
St Doulagh
Very little is known of St Doulagh () who gave his name to the church. It is calculated that he lived in the early 7th century and was a hermit/anchorite. He is said to have lived isolated, in a cell attached to the church, and to have had only minimal contact with the outside world. Anchoritism was a feature of the Celtic church and one of many interesting points of similarity between Ireland's early Christianity and the Eastern churches.
There is no extant history of St Doulough, and his dates are a matter for conjecture. Reeves (1859) stated that St Duilech is mentioned in Sacred Genealogies as the son of Malach, son of Sinell, and eighth in descent from Fergus Mac Rossa who is supposed to have lived in Christian Ireland. Reeves also mentions a St Mobhi (as told in the Leabhar Laighin, Book of Leinster) as an uncle of St Duilech. St Mobhi's death was mentioned by Tighernach as 630, and thus Reeves assigns the year 600 as approximately the time St Duilech lived. The Martyrology of Donegal says he was of the race of Conmac, son of Fergus, son of Ros, son of Rudhraidhe, and Clochar is given as the name of his church. The Gaelic for Grangegorman is Cill Duiligh, which suggests he had a connection with that place. There are other early documents that refer to St Duilech of Clochar (Rachel Moss, 2003) and the site is referred to as Clochar in many documents up to the late 1500s. The earliest historical reference to the church dates from the ninth century, in The Martyrology of Oengus; in that text, the church is called Duilech Cain Clochair.