Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Marked on the 1841 and 1906 editions of the OS 6-inch map. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 342) there was formerly a monastery here. Fragments of a church (L c. 23m), with traces of a doorway and credence near E end of S wall, survived until the early 1900s. Outside the graveyard (LA034-001002-), foundations of several buildings were visible. Situated in a low lying area. No surface remains survive. Earthworks (LA034-001004-) to SW. Described by Carrigan as 'There was a monastery or friary here in former times. Some fragments of the old church remain. Its entire length was about 70 ft. (21.3m). In the remaining piece of the south side-wall, there are traces, near the east end, of a doorway (which led from the sacristy) and of a credence.' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 342).
Revisited on the 03 May 2007. Present remains consist of a rectangular shaped graveyard (int. dims. 13.6m N-S; 27.1m E-W) enclosed by a stone wall (int. H 0.8m; ext. H 1.4m; wall T 0.45m) of late 19th or early 20th century date with gateway and stile along S section of wall. Today all that remains of the church are two small sections of upstanding walls. Within the graveyard there is a short section of the upstanding remains of the S wall (L 3.35m; wall T 0.8m; wall H 2.5m) of the church which was very close to the SE angle. Near the NW angle of the graveyard are the upstanding remains of a short section of the N wall of the church (L 1.5m; wall T 0.8m; wall ext. H 3.5m) which has since been incorporated into the N wall of the graveyard, this wall was originally very close to the NW angle of the church. Within the graveyard there are faint traces of the outline of this church (approx. ext. dims. 7m N-S; 20m E-W; wall T 0.8m) which once formed the N side of the graveyard as indicated on the first edition OS six-inch map. No architectural features are visible on the ivy clad remains of the upstanding walls. On the first edition of the OS 6-inch map there was a larger graveyard to the S of the church which is now a field in pasture containing earthworks some of which may be related to the graveyard of this medieval church.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload/revision: 12 December 2011