Saint John's Church (Mostrim)

This Church of Ireland church is an important element of the architectural heritage of County Longford. It is of interminable age and probably incorporates the fabric of earlier churches to site. It survives in good condition and retains much of its early form and character. The relative lack of ornamentation to the exterior creates a plain but interesting appearance that differs from the usual Board of First Fruits-type composition. The carved limestone memorial plaques (one dated 1737) to the north elevation of the nave add artistic and historic incident to an otherwise blank façade. The rather squat tower with a battered base creates an interesting and distinctive profile and it may be of considerable antiquity. The slated spire was added in 1811 to designs by Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744 – 1817). Lewis (1837) records that it was erected using a ‘gift of £150 and a loan of £500 from the Board of First Fruits (1711 - 1833), although the Irish Parliamentary Returns (1837) states that the church was enlarged in 1810 at an expense of £522, of which £276 was a loan from the Board of First Fruits with £251 raised by parochial assessment. This spire was apparently built on the ground and was hoisted into place. It was replaced in 1935. The vestry, round-headed openings, the stained glass windows and probably the bowed apsidal chancel are late-nineteenth century additions, added 1888 – 89 (cost £430). The stained glass windows are of artistic merit and they are of a type more commonly found in Roman Catholic churches of the same date. The grounds of the church contains an interesting collection of cut stone grave markers, including the family vault of the Edgeworth family (which houses the remains of the celebrated author Maria Edgeworth (1767 – 1849), which is a ‘table’ type monument surrounded by simple wrought-iron railings. The earliest legible grave marker is dated 1705. The graveyard also, strangely, has a memorial to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ardagh, Rev. Dr Thomas O’Beirne (1746) and a ‘pillar’-type marker commemorating a circus performer (Lloyd) who died following an accident in 1892. A sister of Oscar Wilde is also interred here, in whose memory Wilde wrote the poem ‘Requiescat’. A memorial monument to the interior of the church is to Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774 – 1857), the developer/inventor of the Beaufort Wind Scale and a relative of the Edgeworth family. The interior also contains a table presented to Maria Edgeworth by Sir Walter Scott (not viewed). A number of wall monuments to the interior were taken here from the now derelict St. Anne's Church of Ireland Church (13401922) at Kilglass, near Ardagh c. 1990. This is the possible site of an early medieval church associated with Forannan (died 751 AD, Bishop of Meathas Truirn, mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters (LF015-063002-) and possibly of a later church mentioned in 1621. It is also the possible site of an early graveyard (LF015-063005-) associated with the early church/churches to site. The simple stone boundary walls and the good quality gateway complete the setting of this interesting composition, which is an integral element of the history and built heritage of the local area.