"You pilgrim who comes from afar welcome, The Church is a museum of beauty from the past and present, You can enjoy it to the full but this church is also something more, For believers this is a sacred space a house of God, Many generations have come here and there are still many people coming with the greatest joy and their deepest sorrow at turning points in their life or just passing by, may it be a place of quietness also for you where perhaps you come nearer the source of all life (Inscription at door, Church of Our Lady, Bruges, Belgium)".

493a. Stained glass of Good Samaritan parable over altar; the window is dedicated to Richard Barter, St. Senan's Church, inniscarra (pictures: Kieran McCarthy)

On a recent trip to Bruges, I came across the above quote at the entrance to the Church of Our Lady and I thought its commentary added to widen the perspective of the visitor– that churches are not just bricks and mortar with a date on them – there is something deeper at work – they are a landscape full of commentaries about human nature and national and international belief systems. They are full of multi-layered narratives about attitudes and values but also about people and places.

The past co-exists with the present and is built into a way of life and survives through this manner. Throughout the valley, I have been drawn to sites from standing stones to church sites because they are tangible memories. You can stand, observe and touch the stone. They continue to capture my own eye and add to my own fascination for the rural landscape of the Lee Valley with its myriad of and complex human interventions.

I was looking forward to visiting St. Senan's Church of Ireland for many weeks and even months. I have passed the site so many times and admired the site from the road. So I was delighted to get the tour of the building and grounds. At the outset, St. Senan's Church, located at Canon's Cross, replaced the now and nearby ruined Inniscarra Church of Ireland in 1819. The Protestant community chose to move forward their community by constructing a new church, one that would refresh the dynamics of the local organisation.

The commemoration tablet on the tower wall reveals "This church and Tower was erected A.D. 1819 with a loan from the Board of First Fruits, Rt. Rev. Wm. Bennet, Lord Bishop of Cloyne, Hon. Rev. George Delapoer Beresford, Rector, Rev. Wm. Townsend, Curate, Sir Nichs. Conway Colthurst, Bart. Philip Rubie, Esq. Church Wardens, G.T. Beale, Arch" (St. Senan's Church of Ireland, Inniscarra). The plaque is one just one element of the story here. It anchors in time the people highlighted, the building of the church as an event and place. The plaque also refers to the intentional marking of the occasion of the new church and drew pride by making the future passerby aware but also drawing the viewer to think about the people and time in the plaque – what was happening in 1819 in Inniscarra in Cork, in Ireland, who were the people involved in pushing for the church's construction?

Piecing together the cultural significance of sites such as St. Senan's require one to think about as many interpretations of its history as possible. St. Senan's is the first active Church of Ireland I have come across in my travels through the valley. Many others I have encountered are ruins and rebuilding the memory was difficult.