Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a slight E-W rise towards the bottom of an E-facing slope on the W shore of a bottle-shaped bay (dims c. 900m N-S; c. 200m E-W at S to c. 450m E-W at N) on the N side of Gardice Lough. The site of the medieval parish church of Drumreilly or Drumybeallaich – ridge of the eastern road - is within a subrectangular graveyard (dims c. 65m E-W; c. 40m N-S) defined by masonry walls. There are documentary references from the early 15th century (Seymour 1935; Earley and Boyle 1999) when the rectory of Cinel Luachain, which may have been formed from the ancient tuath of the Masraige in Magh Sleacht and which consisted of the parishes of Oughteragh (LE025-008001-) and Drumreilly, was disputed between Gelasious (Giolla Íosa) O’Mulmochery and Luke O’Rodaghan in 1410. The former may have been from a family of hereditary erenachs of a forgotten monastery of Drumreilly, while the latter was a member of the erenach family of the ancient monastery of Fenagh (LE025-096001-). The dispute continued throughout the century amongst their families. The most likely origin of the Ó Maolmochéirghe family is from the Cairpre Mór of north Leitrim in the ninth century (MacCotter 2019, 73), and the large estate attached to Drumreilly church, amounting to twelve townlands, can be distinguished as Church or cross land on the Down Survey (1656-8) parish map (ibid. 75).
The present Church of Ireland church of Drumreilly was built in 1737 by William Gore (Lewis 1837, vol. 1, 520) and may incorporate some medieval fabric. Two corbels with carved heads in the W gable could be in their original position and there is a base-batter in the E wall. The carved head of a bishop and a grotesque mouth-pulling carved head are built into the outer face of the E gable. The base of a finial cross, and a window mullion with part of the head of a two-light ogee-headed window of fifteenth century date area kept in the present church. There is a tapering graveslab (Wth 0.47m at W to 0.53m at E; L 1.63m plus) with a legend carved in false relief in the graveyard, N of the E end of the church. The legend is in English and carved in roman capitals, but it is illegible. However, it could be seventeenth century in date.

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.

Date of revised upload: 6 July 2017

References

Earley, J. E., and Boyle, L. E. 1999 Conflict over the rectory of Conel Luachain during the fifteenth century. Journal of Cumann Seanchas Breifne (Breifne Historical Society) 9 (35), 103-13.

Seymour, St. John D. 1935 Drumreilly and its clergy. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 65, 245-53.

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

McCotter, P. 2019 The comharba family of Ó Maolmochéirghe of Drumreilly. in In Kelly, L. and Scott, B. Leitrim: History and Society, 67-77. Dublin, Geography Publications