The Church of the Rath is a wonderfully atmospheric graveyard that has ancient origins. The church is one of the few Jacobean-style churches remaining in Ireland and has national architectural importance.

The site is called Church of the Rath because there was a ringfort settlement dating to the early medieval period. Ringforts (also known as fairy forts) were enclosed farmsteads and were a common feature of the Irish countryside. The first record of a church on the site is from around 1390 when Augustinian monks from nearby Drumlane Abbey established a church here.

The church you see today is a remodeled version built by the Hamilton family in the late 1600s. The rebuilt church design is one of only a few Restoration period churches in Ireland today and is of national architectural importance. The Jacobean style of architecture (an early phase of English Renaissance architecture) can be identified in the fine stone carving of the windows. 

In 1841, a new church was built for Anglican use in Killeshandra and the Church of the Rath fell into disrepair.