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St
David's Church was built on the site of an earlier Irish
Celtic Church dedicated to the local St Corban or St
Patrick. The Norman Barons who settled in the Naas area
rebuilt the church and dedicated it to St David, the
Patron Saint of Wales. The first historical reference
to St David's occurs in 1212 when it was listed as one
of the possessions of the Hospitallers of St John of
Jerusalem. It was the parish church of Naas, well endowed
and a place of ecclesiastical importance. For the next
400 years it continued to flourish, and by 1606, when
St David's featured in the inquisition of James I, it
had grown to contain three chantries - the Holy Trinity,
St Mary, and St Catherine.
In 1767 the original church Steeple was in a ruinous
state and it was decided to pull it down. Some time
later Lord Mayo decided to replace it. But the new tower
was never completed. A plaque on the inside wall of
the tower states "I found a ruin and left a steeple,
Mayo 1783".The bell dates from 1674 and originally
hung in the old steeple. The Baptismal Font is a relic
of the early Irish Christian Church and most probably
was in use in the pre-Norman church of Saint Corban.
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