This collegiate church was built in the late 13th century on the site of an earlier monastery. It was served by a 'college' - clerics who lived in a community but who did not submit to the rule of a monastery. They lived in a house, now destroyed, beside the church. The church and its family connections have been of huge importance to Gowran and further afield over the centuries. As this site is managed by the OPW, school tour visits are permitted free of charge provided certain conditions are met.