My ancestors - Blennerhassett - Contents

St.John's church (Church of Ireland), Tralee, Co.Kerry

St.John's church (Church of Ireland), on Ashe St (formerly Nelson St), Tralee, Co.Kerry (see map).

Rev. John Blennerhassett was Rector here 1765 to 1803.
Letitia Blennerhassett would have grown up in the Rectory here.

• References:
  • Church of St.John the Evangelist, Ashe St, Tralee, Donal O'Sullivan, 2001, [KCL] Local studies 941.96.

  • Journal of Association for Preservation of Memorials of the Dead, vol 7, no.2 (1908), [NLI] Ir 9295 i 1.
    • "Tralee parish church", Sir Henry Denny, 7th Baronet, pp.363-368.
    • "Tralee parish registers", Sir Henry Denny, 7th Baronet, pp.368-379. This has an annotated transcript of the "Denny Family Diary".

The Church of Ireland church of St.John, Ashe St, Tralee.
Click to rotate.
From Google Street View.

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The church

The church was built in 1623.
The baptismal font dates from 1623 (date inscribed on it). This is the time of Sir Edward Denny.
The font survived the destruction of Tralee town and church in 1642 and 1691. "The church was twice burned over this font." [Denny, 1908]
The church holds a Denny family bible dating from 1639, one of the oldest family bibles in existence in English. (This is also the time of Sir Edward Denny.)
Tralee was destroyed in 1691.
The church was re-built c.1700.
The church was re-modelled in 1819, enlarged in 1830s.
The current main entrance to the church from Ashe St is a new entrance, opened up probably 1834.
The impressive gates are new. They were installed 1954.
[Denny, 1908] lists the surviving monuments in the church.

The Church of Ireland church of St.John, Ashe St, Tralee.
Photo 2010. See larger and full size. See other shot.

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The Rectory

The old Rectory stood to the RHS of the church (looking from Ashe St) until demolished in 1995.
[McMorran and O'Keeffe, 2005] say this old Rectory was built 1812.
Mary Agnes Hickson in the [Kerry Evening Post, 27 November 1895] says: "I was born" [in 1825] "in that street" [Nelson Street] "My father's house stood nearly opposite the Rectory, built for my maternal grandfather" [Rev. James Day, Rector of Tralee 1805-18] "in or about 1812, at the north-west end of Nelson St., and still the house of the Rector of Tralee."

However [O'Sullivan, 2001] says this old Rectory - known as Glebe House - was built 1725. In which case this would be the building Letitia Blennerhassett lived in.
Rev. James Day, Rector of Tralee 1805-18, was reported as dying 1818 "at the Glebe House, Tralee".

It had 1 acre of a garden.
It served as the Rectory until a new Rectory was built at the rear in 1966.
It was sold in 1967.
It was demolished 1995. The gates survive.
The grounds now include St. John's Parochial School (Church of Ireland primary school), the Parish Centre, and the new Rectory.

The old Rectory.
See larger and full size.
From [McMorran and O'Keeffe, 2005].
Used with the kind permission of Russell McMorran and Maurice O'Keeffe.

The gates into the old Rectory (now demolished).
From Google Street View.

The gates into the old Rectory (now demolished).
Photo 2010. See larger and full size.
See shot more head on and further to the RHS and inside gates.

Gate from the grounds of the old Rectory into the church grounds.
Photo 2010. See larger and full size. See other shot.
See shot and shot from the other side (church side).

Further up the road, this would have been the far side of of the old Rectory.
Photo 2010. See larger and full size.
See rectory side of wall and other side of wall and far end.

Tralee church and Rectory. 1829 to 1842 period.
From OSI.

Tralee church and Rectory. 1887 to 1913 period.
From OSI.

Tralee church and site of Rectory. Modern map.
From OSI.

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• St.John's church (Church of Ireland), Tralee

• Not to be confused with St.John's church (Catholic), off Castle St (to the S), Tralee (see map).