Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on Church Island in Garadice Lough. This is a rectangular structure (ext. dims 14.55m E-W; 7.05m N-S; int. dims 12.7m E-W; 5.1m N-S at W to 5.25m N-S at E), with dressed sandstone quoins and reveals to the embrasures, which survives almost complete (H 3-4m), except for portions of the S wall. There is a destroyed doorway in the W wall and cupboards towards the E end of the N wall and towards the S end of the E wall. There is a cusped two-centre headed window (Wth 0.22m; H 0.65m) in the E wall and a pointed light (Wth 0.1m; H 0.63m) towards the E end of the S wall with the E side of another window embrasure further W. The W end of the structure and most of the N and S walls, including its surviving light, are of thirteenth century date but the E wall and its window were constructed in the fifteenth century. There is a tradition of a burial place reserved for O’Rourke (OS Name Book), but there is no evidence of an enclosure or of burial. A bullaun stone (dims 0.9m x 0.8m; H c. 0.3m plus) with a single basin (diam. 0.4m x 0.45m; D 0.25m) is situated c. 120m N of the church (Byrne 1997, 8).
Some conservation work had been conducted on the church in 2005-07 with support from the American-based Everan foundation (Earley 2005), but when the monument was inspected in May 2013, the very fine 15th-century window in the E gable wall was found to have been robbed out. However, after a Facebook campaign it was soon recovered and re-instated.

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. 2005 Saving the medieval building on Church Island in Gardice Lake. Journal of Cumann Seanchas Breifne (Breifne Historical Society) 11 (41), 85-88.