Church

The National Monuments Service's description

At the centre of a small graveyard (KD028-058004-). Depicted on an 1853 sketch of an original ‘Plan of the Castle of Ballyshannon [KD032-003002-], with its Outworks [KD032-003001-], in 1650’, as a roofed rectangular structure, lit by three windows in the N wall and one in the W gable wall, with a doorway near the W end of the N wall; and annotated, ‘The Church. On the other side stood our Mortter piece.’ (Fitzgerald 1899-1902, 447). The present church is recorded on the OS mapping as, ‘Church on Site of St. James’s Church’ and appears to be 19th-century in date. It is a heavily pebble-dashed, rectangular structure (c. 16m E-W; c. 10m N-S) with a tall porch at the W gable wall and a small sacristy attached at the NE angle. Lit by large opposed ‘Gothic-style’ windows in the N and S walls, it has a small bell cote on the W gable. A double-doorway has been inserted near the W end of the N wall, and the church is no longer used for religious purposes. It may stand on the site of an earlier, medieval church.

Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy

Date of upload: 21 May 2013

References

FitzGerald, Lord W. 1899-1902 The FitzGeralds of Ballyshannon (Co. Kildare), and their successors thereat. Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society 3, 425-52.