Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Stands at the N side of a graveyard (CL017-066002-) on a rise in undulating pasture. Drawn and named ‘Coad Church (in ruins)’ on both the first (1842) and Cassini (1920) editions of the OS 6-inch map. First mentioned in documentary sources in 1604 (Comber 1997, 15; Macnamara 1901, 363; Swinfen 1992, 14-15). While the surviving remains appear to date to the late-15th/16th century, architectural fragments (CL017-066004-) in the surrounding graveyard - including probable 13th-century door jambstones - indicate an earlier building phase, or that an earlier church once stood at this site, while a 17th century graveslab (CL017-066005-) on the site of the altar suggests the present remains had fallen out of regular use by 1651 (Macnamara 1901, 363, footnote 1). 

 

This roofless but otherwise well-preserved rectangular single-cell church (int. dims. 16.35m E-W; 6.7m N-S; ext. dims. 18.3m E-W; 8.7m N-S) has well-built walls (Wth 0.9m - Large 2011) of coursed limestone, with a slight external base-batter on the N sidewall and E gable wall, and a line of drain-holes on the N and S sidewalls walls. There is a bellcote on the W gable. At the centre of the E gable wall is a twin-light ogee-headed window (Wth 0.47m; H 1.74m) with missing central mullion, externally hooded with square head moulding set in an internal embrasure (Wth 1.6m) that slopes up to the sill. At the bottom corners of the window frame are spud-stones to hinge shutters. The window may have been rebuilt, as there is a glazing slot only at the base and the embrasure arch is awkwardly made from sections of straight stone. The doorway (Wth 1.11m; H 1.85m) is toward the W end of the S wall and has a semi-pointed arch and external chamfer. Internally, the doorway has a flat arch (Wth 1.2m) and there is a long draw-bar socket in the E jamb. There is a recess (L 0.55m; H 0.28m; D 0.3m) on the E ingoing (depth 0.3m, L 0.55m, H 0.28m) but no evidence of a font or stoop, so this may just be the location of a missing stone. Near the E end of the S wall is a single-light, ogee-headed window in a flat-arched embrasure (Wth 1.25m), with a probable late 16th-century square head moulding with decorated spandrels on the exterior. 

 

Within the church, there is a corbelled course (i.e., cornice) at the top of the N and S sidewalls. On either side of the window in the E gable wall is a corbel (H 1.5m above ground) which Macnamara (1901, 359) suggests supported a wooden press or a statue. In each corner of the E gable wall is a single stone extending from the cornice on the N and S sidewalls and at the S end of the E wall is a blocked-up ambry (Wth 0.6m; H 0.56m; D 0.45m). There are many flat graveslabs in the church, including two dating to the 17th century (CL017-066005- and CL017-066006-).

 

There is no visible surface trace of the square mortuary chapel (c. 5.3-5.6m E-W) built against the exterior of the E gable wall in 1735 by Thomas MacGorman of Inchiquin (CL017-057001-), as a tomb for his family (Comber 1997, 15; Macnamara 1901, 361). This structure was subsequently dismantled and only partly standing in 1839 (Comber 1997, 15). Macnamara (1901, 361) found some of its foundations, noting that subsequently the building was mostly covered by an enclosed burial plot of the Macnamara family, repaired in 1894-5.

 

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott

 

Date of upload: 13-10-2025

References

Macnamara, G.U. 1901 Inchiquin, County Clare (Concluded). Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 31, 341-64.
Comber, M. (ed.) 1997 The antiquities of County Clare: John O’Donovan and Eugene Curry: Ordnance Survey Letters 1839. Clasp Press. Ennis. Swinfen, A. 1992 Forgotten stones: Ancient church sites of the Burren and environs. Dublin. Lilliput Press. Large, S. 2011 A church and graveyard survey in County Clare. Database and photographic record. Clare County Council. Clare Heritage Forum. The Heritage Council.