Costello Memorial Chapel
About
At the junction of Main Street and Bridge Street, opposite the town clock, a doorway between two shopfronts opens into a room sixteen feet by twelve. Edward Costello, a Carrick businessman, built it after his wife Mary Josephine died in 1877 aged forty-six, and it was dedicated on 22 April 1879. Both of them lie in sunken vaults either side of the entrance under thick glass, in metal coffins, and the inscriptions can still be read with a torch. Costello himself was interred here in 1891. Mass was said on the first Friday of every month until his death and none has been said since. The chapel's own site and the Kiltoghert parish both describe it as the second smallest chapel in the world; that ranking is a local claim repeated everywhere and has never been independently adjudicated, so take the 192 square feet as the fact and the superlative as folklore. It was substantially restored in 2009 and 2010.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓192 square feet of floor, sixteen feet by twelve
- ✓Both founders' vaults visible under glass either side of the door
- ✓Dedicated 22 April 1879
- ✓Restored in 2009 and 2010
Tips
- →Bring a phone torch if you want to read the coffin inscriptions
- →It is easy to walk past; look for the doorway opposite the town clock
- →Access is not always guaranteed, so pair it with St George's Heritage Centre, which covers the chapel on its tour
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
The Dock
Leitrim's arts centre in the old county courthouse: three galleries, a stage, studios and a cafe.
St George's Heritage and Visitor Centre
Carrick's heritage centre, covering St George's Church, the Famine workhouse and the Earl Grey emigrant girls.
Eclipse Cinemas Carrick-on-Shannon
Multi-screen cinema across the bridge in Cortober, the town's wet-afternoon fallback.