Church of St Joseph, Kinvara

The site was donated by Captain Francis Blake Forster in 1874. Funds from M. Murray of Northampton (£4,000) provided for a convent, chapel, and school. Architect Maurice A. Hennessy designed the buildings, with contractor William Kilroy of Gort. They were dedicated by Bishop McEvilly on 20 April 1878. The church was extended by twenty feet in 1920 and managed by the Sisters of Mercy until 1938. A major renovation in 1973 by Brendan Jeffers added a new roof, porch, and marble altar. The carved figures from the old pulpit were reused on the gallery front. A new presbytery was built in 1997.