Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Within a small wood on a very slight rise in the parkland surrounding Shankill Castle, on the gently rolling valley floor. Roughly centrally placed within a sub-rectangular graveyard (KK016-008001-). There are good views in all directions. According to the OS Letters (1839), this is the ancient church of Shankill (O’Flanagan 1939, vol. 1, 253-4 (85)). O’Kelly (1985, 95) states that it had been, ‘repaired for Protestant divine service’.
A rectangular church (int. dims. 18.4m E-W; 5.45m N-S; wall T 0.8m; side walls H c. 2.5m) built of roughly coursed limestone rubble, with a base-batter (H 1m) and punch-dressed quoins. The gables stand to their full height. Some sections of the side walls have collapsed, including the E end of the S wall, the W end of the N wall and the NE angle, while others are very unstable. The entrance was at the W end of the S wall but has been robbed out (gap 1.1m). The church was lit by three tall round-headed windows, in the E and W gable and at the E end of the N wall and a crude flat-headed single-light window at the W end of the S wall. There is a corbel on each of the side walls at the W end and beam-holes in the W gable which suggests there was a gallery at this end.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 29 April 2020

References

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Kilkenny collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839. Bray.

O'Kelly, O. 1969 (Reissue 1985) The place-names of County Kilkenny. Kilkenny.