Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Templebeg/An Teampall Beag: Situated at the present N limit of the graveyard are the fragmentary and overgrown remains of a small rectangular church, 6.5m E-W x 3.65m N-S internally. The N wall, ruinous externally, forms a low boundary to the roadway which skirts it here and the E gable has been incorporated into a shed. The walls, c. 1m thick, are built of split stones set in a clay bond. The N, W, and S walls are preserved to a maximum height of 1.5m; a ragged opening c. midway along the S wall marks the site of the entrance (Macalister 1899, 232-3). The church was lit by a splayed lintelled ope in the E gable; the window is now defaced externally but the remains indicate a rectangular light at least .5m in height. There were similar opes at the E and W ends of the S wall. The E and W gables were fitted with lintelled recesses and an irregular recess at the E end of the N wall may also have been a wall press. The church was in ruins in 1841 (OS map), and the present remains suggest a late medieval date for the structure.
A stone lying loose in the graveyard is inscribed with a plain cross, and a 2nd cross-inscribed stone and a rude stone cross were formerly visible (Curran no.31; Macalister). According to Macalister the graveyard was used as a burial ground for unbaptised children in the 19th century.

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 984. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 7 August 2013

References

Curran, J. 1907-33 Record of the Ancient Monuments on the Promontory of Dingle, Co. Kerry, unpublished ms. in OPW.

Macalister, R. A. S. 1899 On an Ancient Settlement in the South-West of the Barony of Corkaguiney, County of Kerry. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy 31, 209-392.

Cuppage, J. 1986 Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne.