Church

The National Monuments Service's description

St. Mary's parish was created in 1697 following the division of St. Michans parish in response to north side development. Work began on St. Mary's church in 1697. St Mary's Church of Ireland Church is reputedly one of the earliest galleried churches in Ireland and dates to the late 17th century. According to Craig (and Knight of Glin 1970, 48) Thomas Burgh was the architect. The church has a plain exterior with few decorative features except for the window surrounds and the entrance. The tower and spire were never completed. It has a tall graceful interior with a fine W end (Craig and Knight of Glin 1970, 48). There is a decorated ceiling and a fine E window. Other decorative features included carved box pews and a finely carved wooden organ case by Renatus Harris with figure-sculpture (Wheeler& Craig 1948, 24-6).
A preliminary assessment was carried out in 1998 in advance of redevelopment. Various remains were found within the crypts. These consisted, for the most part, of bits of timber coffins and disarticulated human remains but also included several articulated skeletons. On the basis of the evidence revealed during the assessment an excavation was carried out in the crypts to record and remove the human remains and to clear the crypts to boulder clay levels. The area between the railings that surround the church and its south wall was used to inter human remains, as several in situ human skeletons were found, orientated east-west. The main graveyard, however, lay to the south, in the area known as Wolfe Tone Park (Coughlan 2000, 77-78). In 2000 further investigations at 6 St. Mary's Abbey uncovereda series of floor levels, the earliest appears to be a stone surface (Doyle, 2002, 90). In 2001 investigations in the graveyard attached to St. Mary's Church at Wolfe Tone Park uncovered some disarticulated human skeletal material. These were associated with post-medieval material including North-Devon gravel-tempered ware, clay pipe fragments and coffin nails (Myles 2003, 104). Further monitoring of works in 2004 showed that the church was built on an infilled hollow(Simpson 2002, 4).