Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on the NE-facing slope of a low ridge known as Chapel Hill. A church at Fleenstown does not occur in any of the ecclesiastic lists. However, according to the Civil Survey (1654-6) there was an ‘old chappell’ on the 560 acres that were owned by a widow Dillon in 1640 at Fleenstowne alias FitzLyonstowne (Simington 1940, 100). The walls (Wth 0.7-1m; int. H 0.5-0.9m; ext. H 0.2m) of an E-W building (int. dims 8.65m E-W; 4m N-S) survive within a subrectangular enclosure (dims 33m E-W; c. 75m NNW-SSE) defined by scarps (H 0.1m at S to c. 0.5m) but there is no evidence of burial. Nor is there any evidence of or local knowledge of a possible souterrain (Feely 2001, 41-5) which may have been a water-course and there is a closed sink-hole inside the enclosure at S.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revision: 11 September, 2015

References

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1940 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. V: county of Meath. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Feeley, E. 2001 A survey of archaeological remains OS sheet 45 – Co. Meath. Ríocht na Mídhe, vol. 12, 27-66.