Church

The National Monuments Service's description

In a graveyard (MA039-064002). This church is named ‘Templeancloghan Church’ on the 1838 and 1930 OS 6-inch maps. It consists of a rectangular building (c. 14m E–W; c. 7m N–S) of mortared stone.
An inspection in 1996 recorded the church as follows: 'The E and W gables and the S wall survive, the N wall is poorly preserved, incorporated into the line of the N wall of the graveyard. The E gable (H c. 3.5m) has a central lancet window (H c. 1.3m; ext. Wth 0.2m). The sides of the window have been robbed out, but the pointed sandstone arch is intact. The N end of the E gable is poorly preserved. In the S wall (H 2.65m; T 0.7m), there is a square-headed, inwardly splayed window (ext. Wth 0.35m H 1.05m) towards the E end of the wall, and towards the W end of the wall is a ragged break (Wth 3.1m), possibly the site of a doorway or another window. The W gable (T 1.2m) survives to almost its full original height. There is a ragged break (Wth 0.8m; H 1.7m) in the centre of the wall which may have been a doorway. It is blocked externally by a later stone-built vaulted tomb chamber (5.3m E–W; 5.9m N–S) which was built against the external wall face of the W gable. The W side of the tomb is gable-fronted, with a central doorway with a low voussoir arch. The tomb interior is plastered. At the N end of the W gable there is a short return of the N wall, but the remainder of the N wall appears to be gone, replaced by the N wall of the graveyard.'
Since that date, an unauthorized reconstruction of the church took place. The walls were rebuilt and pointed. The windows were also rebuilt, and a pointed arched doorway has been inserted into W end of the S wall.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 25 March 2020