Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located at the E end of a short E-W ridge. The church is listed as ‘Cill Imoire’ in the 'Register of Clonmacnoise' (O'Donovan 1857, 451) but it could be a later insertion. This is the possible site of a monastery with a hospital (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 352), whose erenach, or hereditary lay steward, was recorded in 1362 (MacNamee 1954, 662). Land amounting to four quarters is recorded as erenach land at Kilynonyre (Killanummery) in 1595 (Logan 1970, 57), but this need not indicate that a hospital or early monastery was at this location. This is the probable site of the parish church of Killanummery in Ardagh diocese, and the names of some of its clergy are recorded in the Annates from 1426 into the sixteenth century (Scully 2019, 134-5). The parish was united with Killerry parish in Co. Sligo before 1672 (MacNamee 1954, 663). This is a rectangular graveyard (dims c. 75m E-W; c. 30m N-S) defined by masonry walls with headstones dating c. 1860-1986, but there is no evidence of an antiquity. There is an abandoned Church of Ireland church that was built in 1820 (Lewis 1837, 2, 141). The earthwork site (LE015-111---), where a coin hoard may have been found, is c. 150m to the S.

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 23 September 2008
Amended: 10 January 2020

References

Lewis, S. 1837 A topographical dictionary of Ireland, 2 vols. London. Lewis and Co.

MacNamee, Rev. J.J. 1954 History of the diocese of Ardagh. Dublin. Browne and Nolan.

O'Donovan, J. 1856-7 The Registry of Clonmacnoise: with notes and introductory remarks. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 4, 444-60.

Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Logan, P. 1970 Medieval hospital system in Breifne. Journal of Cumann Seanchas Breifne (Breifne Historical Society) 4(13), 52-8.

Scully, S. 2019 Medieval parish churches in Muinter Eolais, south County Leitrim c. 1350-1600. In Kelly, L. and Scott, B. Leitrim: History and Society, 129-51. Dublin, Geography Publications