Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located towards the bottom of a N-facing slope with Mong Hill rising over it to the NE and there is a low spur extending off to the SW. The medieval parish church of Kiltoghert is inside the N wall of a rectangular graveyard (dims 85m E-W; 70m N-S) defined by a limestone masonry walls, which has been extended up the slope to the S. The church is listed as ‘Cill Tachuir’ in the 'Register of Clonmacnoise' (O'Donovan 1857, 451) where it is probably a later insertion. The church and parish are named after St Tochomhracht, a female saint of the Conmaicne, whose feast was celebrated on 11 June (Ó Riain 2011, 575), and Kiltoghert featured in a celebration of Lughnasa (MacNeill 1962, 606-07). The church is firmly attested from 1412 (Pinkman 1942, 34-6), and possession was disputed later in the century when the church of Kiltrennan (LE031-082004) was attached to it as a chapel-of-ease (Scully 2019, 135-6).

The church is an undivided rectangular structure (ext. dims 15.5m plus E-W; 8.6m N-S) whose N and E ivy-covered walls survive almost complete (H c. 3.6m) together with the E end of the S wall, but the W wall is absent. The E wall has an external base-batter and a large pointed opening, probably for a lancet window, indicating a thirteenth century date. A carved bishop's head on a window moulding is probably from a fifteenth century redevelopment of the church, and a there is a graveslab (dims 2.2m x 0.65-0.95m) (Butler 1932) also in the graveyard. The holy well to the N is circular (diam. 1.7m) and had a pattern, transferred from Toberreendoney Well (LE027-136---), at the end of July from the 1860s until c. 1910 (MacNeill 1962, 606-07).

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: 19 September 2017

References

Butler, Rev. J. 1932 Mong - A green hill among the grey ones. Journal of the Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Archaeological Society 1 (3), 73-5.

Pinkman, Rev. J. 1942 Some place names in Co. Leitrim. Journal of the Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Archaeological Society 11 (8), 34-46.

MacNeill, M. 1962 The festival of Lughnasa. London. Oxford University Press.

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.

Ó Riain, P. 2011 A dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin. Four Courts Press.

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