Church

The National Monuments Service's description

In graveyard (CO071-050002-), in Macroom town; former C of I parish church of Macroom. Church consists of rectangular nave with shallow apse, entrance porch near W end of S wall and 2-storey tower attached at centre of W gable. Nave lit by three windows in S wall with perpendicular-style tracery; apse lit by four pointed lancets; some late 19th/early 20th-century stained glass. Limestone baptismal font of 19th-century appearance. Apse buttressed; porch and tower have clasped buttresses, formerly surmounted by pinnacles. First floor of tower has louvred opes for bell loft. Described by Lewis (1837, vol. 2, 329) as 'a small modern edifice in the later English style, with an enriched porch, and is attached to the tower of the ancient structure'. This latter may be structure 'in good repair' in 1669 (Brady 1863, vol. 2, 318). Church itself described as 'rebuilt' in 1824 (ibid., 321); attributed to George Richard Pain (Killaninand Duignan 1962, 364). Nave contains memorial plaque dated 1712, noted by Smith (1750, vol. 1, 181). Nave and tower may have been extensively remodelled in 1824, when apse and porch added. Interior remodelled again in 1898 (Cole 1903, 232). Deconsecrated in 1990 and currently (1994) undergoing renovation as visitor centre.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009