Agher
Achadh Eaglais

The Ireland's Ancient East
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Achadh Eaglais · Co. Meath

The village where Jonathan Swift was rector, and the stained-glass window is worth the trip.

Agher is a small village south of Summerhill in rural County Meath, on the road between Summerhill and Edenderry. The parish is named for its church — Achadh Eaglais, the field of the church — and the church is the reason anyone knows the place today. Jonathan Swift, the poet and clergyman, was rector of the Church of Ireland parish here from 1699 until his death in 1745. For nearly half a century he lived and worked in a small parish in agricultural Meath while his London reputation grew.

In 1804 a new church was built, funded largely by the landowner Samuel Winter, who had rebuilt the estate after inheriting it in 1776. The church contains the second-earliest known piece of Irish-made stained glass, a window painted (not leaded) by Dublin artisan Thomas Jervais showing St Paul preaching to the Athenians. Jervais died in 1799, meaning the window predates the 1804 building — it was moved here, not commissioned for it. The design was inspired by a Raphael cartoon and the unusual subject has never been fully explained. Visit the church for the window. The village itself is quiet — a crossroads, a few houses, the drumlin landscape rolling on.

Population

~150

Coords

53.5944° N, 7.2256° W

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At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 Swift's church

The Church of Ireland parish church.

Jonathan Swift was rector here from 1699 until his death in 1745. The church was rebuilt in 1804 and holds a second-earliest known Irish-made stained-glass window.

Stories & lore → 02 The window

St Paul preaching to the Athenians.

Painted on glass by Dublin artisan Thomas Jervais — who died in 1799 — the window predates the church itself. Not leaded stained glass: painted. The unusual subject is the whole point.

Stories & lore → 03 The land

Agricultural Meath, south of Summerhill.

A crossroads village on the road from Summerhill to Edenderry. Bogland and drumlin country. The Winter family estate once dominated the parish.

Getting there →

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Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Rector, 1699–1745

Jonathan Swift at Agher

Swift was appointed rector of Agher in 1699 and held the position until his death in 1745. He lived in the parish while his reputation as a writer and satirist grew — A Tale of a Tub came out in 1704, Gulliver's Travels in 1726, A Modest Proposal in 1729. He lived in a quiet country parish in agricultural Meath while London debated his work. The church is small. The village is smaller. The contradiction is the whole story.

Thomas Jervais, c.1770s

The stained-glass window

The window in the 1804 church was painted by Thomas Jervais — who died in 1799, so it predates the building. It was moved here rather than made for it. Rather than leading small pieces of coloured glass, he painted the entire design on a single pane. The subject — St Paul preaching to the Athenians on Mars Hill — was derived from a Raphael cartoon. It is unusual, unexplained, and utterly deliberate. The window survives and is recognised as the second-earliest known example of Irish-made stained glass. It is the reason to visit.

Getting there.

By car

From Summerhill on the N52, 3 km south on the road toward Edenderry. From Trim, 12 km southeast on the R160. The village is a crossroads with no services.