# St. Kevin's Church or "Kitchen"?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528 "2011-10-23T12:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xavier\_Breath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@Xavier\_Breath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier_Breath)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/1 "2011-10-23T12:35:34Z")
So there’s an early Christian monastery around Glendalough, Ireland that I would love to visit some time. Wikipedia has a photo of what appears to be a little stone chapel with the description “St. Kevin’s Church” or “kitchen”. Huh? So, are small stone chapels sometimes called “kitchens”? Is this where the food was prepared for the monks? (Doesn’t seem likely; the structure looks like a chapel) What’s up with the whole “church or kitchen” thing? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/2 "2011-10-23T13:09:06Z")
[Here’s the link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stkevinschurch2.jpg). It looks like [two joined buildings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St_Kevin_-_Glendalough.jpg), so perhaps the little one attached to teh main church was a kitchen. (Just a WAG.) Or Wikipedia vandalism? ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/3 "2011-10-23T13:19:04Z")
I seem to recall that it’s just the local name for the church. According to [these](http://www.glendalough.ie/heritage_of_glendalough.php) [sites](http://www.megalithicireland.com/High%20Cross%20Glendalough.html), it got that name because of its size, and because of the attached tower that looks like a chimney. [[QUOTE=megalithicireland.com](http://QUOTE=megalithicireland.com)] St. Kevin’s Church is unusual in that it has a round tower or belfry with conical cap integrated with the church. Perhaps because of its small size, or the tower resembling a chimney, it is frequently called “St. Kevin’s kitchen.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/4 "2011-10-23T13:23:48Z")
The usage of “St Kevin’s Church or ‘Kitchen’” is not the work of Wikivandals but is perpetuated on the [Glendalpough tourism monuments webpage](http://www.walkinginireland.org/monuments-in-glendalough/). No clue except that St Kevin seems to have been a bit of an eremite, so he may well have eaten at the chapel. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/5 "2011-10-23T13:26:50Z")
Glendalough is certainly well-worth visiting, not just for the monastic site but for the incredible scenic beauty of the surroundings. I don’t know how “St Kevin’s kitchen” came to bear that name. It is a small typical early-Christian church and was certainly nothing to do with food preparation. Of course the monastic settlement would have had a kitchen for the monks and students. A lot of legends grew up associated with St Kevin and with the site long after the monastic site was abandoned, and a lot of names were attached to different locations around the site. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/6 "2011-10-23T16:00:07Z")
Was anyone else suprised to hear that there was a Saint Kevin? I actually thought it was a joke, because I thought the name Kevin was invented in the 20th century, and because it’s a typical “white trash” name. It’s like finding out there’s a Saint Wayne ::checks Wikipedia to make sure there isn’t a Saint Wayne:: Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/7 "2011-10-23T16:39:42Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > Was anyone else suprised to hear that there was a Saint Kevin? I actually thought it was a joke, because I thought the name Kevin was invented in the 20th century, and because it’s a typical “white trash” name. That’s ironic, because the literal meaning of the word in Irish is “noble born” (caoimh ghin). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/8 "2011-10-23T22:35:48Z")
We’ve been there. (Glendaloughis a great site). I was under the impression that “kitchen” was a misuse by folks for many years, who thought that such a fireproof and well-built structure must be intended as a kitchen (like the “summer kitchens” in the American South). certainly I’ve never heard that “kitchen” was ever a term for a kind of church. ---
**Author:** ![Xavier\_Breath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@Xavier\_Breath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier_Breath)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/9 "2011-10-24T00:05:35Z")
OK, I guess I can understand the colloquialism…the tower’s appearance as a chimney for a kitchen. Hey, thanks! Now I can travel with confidence not calling every country chapel a “kitchen” thinking I’m scoring points with the locals! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/st-kevins-church-or-kitchen/600528/10 "2011-10-24T00:46:32Z")
So it’s basically a nickname for the church. Not so unusual. Where I grew up in Willmar, MN, we had a local Lutheran congregation that built a new church: a big, tall, round building. Being set in a farming community, we all recognized the style – it was the Lutheran _silo_ church, a term known to everybody in town. (But they did serve a real good lutefisk & swedish meatballs supper every Fall. You could just ignore the lutefisk and still get a real good meal.)