Abbeystrewry Parish Church   Abbeystrewry is said to have got it's name from a Cistercian abbey, the ruins of which are situated on the river Ilen on the road to Ballydehob. A new site was found in the town and a new church was given a license for devine service on 11th April 1827. The present church was opened by Canon Goodman on 18th December 1890 after extensive renovations at a cost of £3,000 of which he contributed £700 himself.
St. Barrahane's, Castletownshend
St Barrahane's Church Castletownshend, serves a parish that first appears in the 'decretal epistle' of Pope Innocent III in 1199 as Glenberchin. In the visitation book of 1615 it is referred to as Glenbarahan. The present church was built in 1826 at a cost of £1,384 with stone from Horse Island. There are 52 steps up to the church - one for every Sunday of the year and there are three magnificent Harry Clarke(1889-1931) windows on the walls. Edith Sommerville and Violet Martin(Martin Ross) of Sommerville & Ross fame (The Irish RM amongst others) are buried on a bank at the East end of the church. St Barrahane's Concert site: click on this link> http://homepage.tinet.ie/~barrahane/index.html
St. Mathew's Church in Baltimore village was consecrated in 1819 on land donated by the Rt. Hon. Lord John Carbery. Rectors date back to 1394, and the first incumbent was Matthew Ohydrsgol(O'Driscoll). On the North West corner is a 'benchmark' cut into the stone at about three feet off the ground and used for the depth measurements for marine charts for the whole area for the Admiralty Chart Survey.		St Barrahane's Church Castletownshend, serves a parish that first appears in the 'decretal epistle' of Pope Innocent III in 1199 as Glenberchin. In the visitation book of 1615 it is referred to as Glenbarahan. The present church was built in 1826 at a cost of £1,384 with stone from Horse Island. There are 52 steps up to the church - one for every Sunday of the year and there are three magnificent Harry Clarke(1889-1931) windows on the walls. Edith Sommerville and Violet Martin(Martin Ross) of Sommerville & Ross fame (The Irish RM amongst others) are buried on a bank at the East end of the church. St Barrahane's Concert site: click on this link> http://homepage.tinet.ie/~barrahane/index.html
St. Mary's, Caheragh St. Mary's was built in 1829 at a cost of £650 to hold 160 souls. Inside the church is a brass bell which origin is a mystery, but is dated 1692 and has the following      translated inscription   "If God is with us,                   who is against us?" The organ is the finest of only three remaining organs made by J. Seymour Murphy of Cork in 1870
Abbeystrewry Union of Parishes is small, scattered and the most South Westerly in the land, stretching as it does to the                      Fastnet Rock and Oileann Cleire.  However small as it is, it has produced two Archdeacons, four Deans and two Bishops and an Archbishop.   These buildings are our heritage and the damage done by the storms of 1997 & 1998 took  their toll on them. They were restored by this generation for our children to worship in, to enjoy and to be proud of.  The cost of restoration was beyond the resources of a small parish and so we formed a Restoration Committee to seek funds from the local wider community.  We raised all the money required to complete  the restorations in a short two years and we are now in the envidious position of being able to work on without the constant worry of the fabrick of our places of worship. Thank you for your generousity, to all who helped.                                                                                                                                                                           TREVOR RASHLEIGH LESTER 2002