Sites
Borris House
Borris House.
In the centre of the village is Borris House, which dates to the eighteenth century andstands on the site of a late medieval castle. The house is also the ancestral home of theMacMurrough Kavanagh family, who trace their descent from the MacMurrough Kings ofLeinster.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
The site of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the village of Borris was providedby the MacMurrough Kavanagh family. It is a large, T-plan, barn-church built in1820. The stained-glass window over the main altar depicts the crucifixion with SaintsFortchern, Brigid and Fiachra underneath.
The Catholic Girls’ School
The Catholic Girls’ School
The Catholic Girls’ School is a two-storied, five-bay building which dates to 1832.It has an elaborate Tudor-Gothic revival façade with crenellated turrets on the corners.The main feature is a slender, gabled, three-stage tower with an open lantern on topflanked by projecting porches. The tower is believed to be the work of Thomas Cobden.The building now houses the local library.
Ballinkillin – Baile an Chillín
4. St. Laserian’s Catholic Church is a large T barn 
building with a date stone of 1793, although the present structure probably dates from 1830. The church is painted and rendered with plain, pointed windows and one square-headed, granite door case.
Nineteenth-century high cross
Open: Daily, daylight hours
Admission: Free
Parking: Yes
Barn-church: Church built to a simple T plan with a large internal space. This style was often used by the Catholic Church in the early nineteenth century.
St. Laserian’s Catholic Church
St. Laserian’s Catholic Church
St. Laserian’s Catholic Church is a large T barn building with a date stone of 1793,
although the present structure probably dates from 1830.
In the churchyard you can see a large replica of a nineteenth century high
cross erected by Patrick Francis Moran to commemorate his parents. Patrick
Francis Moran was born in Leighlinbridge in 1830 and attended school
at Ballinabranagh (see St. Patrick’s Trail). He was orphaned at age eleven
whereupon he was taken to Rome by his uncle, Paul Cullen, who was Rector
of the Irish College there. Moran was granted his doctorate at the age of 22
and ordained one year later. He returned to Ireland in 1866 and was appointed
Bishop of Ossory in 1872. He spent 12 years in Kilkenny before moving
to Australia to take up the position of Archbishop of Sydney. He became a
Cardinal in 1885 and spent the rest of his career in Australia. When he died in 1911 at the age of 81, a quarter of a million people witnessed his funeral procession through the centre of Sydney. He is buried in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, a church built by John Therry, a Carlow College graduate. Both their graves can be seen in the crypt of Sydney Cathedral.
