'A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'
In 1837 Samuel Lewis published this work in two volumes. The survey gives details of markets, large houses, population, schools and churches for all the parishes, towns, villages and hamlets in Ireland. The entry for Kilskyre reads:‑
‘The village of Kilskyre, which is the property of W. Blayney Wade, Esq., comprises 29 neatly built houses and 156 inhabitants.
Petty sessions and fairs are held at Crossakeel. The living is a rectory, in the diocese of Meath, and in the patronage of the Crown; the tithes amount to f425.There is a glebe‑house with a glebe of 22 acres. The church, which is a handsome structure with a lofty spire, is built on an eminence at Crossakeel, and has recently been repaired by grant of £137 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In the RC divisions this is the head of a union or district, comprising Kilskyre, Clonabreny and Diamor, and containing chapels at Kilskyre and Ballinlough, the latter of which is a neat edifice. There is a school at Crossakeel on Erasmus Smith's foundation, in which 100 children are educated and to which W. Blayney Wade, Esq., contributes £6 per annum, besides granting two Acres of land, on which the school‑house was erected at an expense of £200, partly defrayed by Mr Wade and partly by the Trustees. There are also two private schools, in which about 120 children are educated, and a Sunday school. Viscount Killeen had given a site for a school‑house at Kilskyre, and another is about to be established at Ballinlough.’
The Church of the Assumption, Ballinlough
Extract from Kilskyre and District - a Local History
'The erection of the Church of St Alphonsus Liguori, Kilskyre, was an important event in the history of the diocese. The architect was Mr J.J.McCarthy, who afterwards designed the College Chapel at Maynooth. The style is Gothic. Though small in dimensions, it is a fine example of that style of architecture. The nave is 87 feet long and 22 feet wide. The north and south aisles are 12 feet wide and the Lady Chapel terminates the south aisle. The nave walls rest on fourteen pillars, alternately octagonal and circular.'
‘The building was begun in 1847 as a relief measure. There is a tradition of an outdoor kitchen near the building where food was served out to the starving people. A note in the Catholic Directory for 1850 states, 'We learn from the architect's report that the entire structure ‑ nave, aisle and chancel ‑ have been advanced to the full height of the aisle walls'. As the work was nearing completion considerable damage was done during the gales of 1853. On that occasion the roof was stripped . The generous gesture of a parishioner, Mr Kearney of Milltown, deserves the remembered . 'I think,' he said to Fr Kelly, ‘there is enough in Milltown to repair the damage.'
When opened by Dr Cantwell 21 May 1854, the church lacked the spire and the interior was as yet incomplete. The formal dedication to St Alphonsus Liguori by Dr Nulty took place in September 1868.’