Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located at the S end of a small N-S ridge. This is an early ecclesiastical site, the name of which ‘Selloo’ probably derives from Suidhe Lugha – Lua’s seat. Lua is probably short for Molua (Smyth 1953), who is the patron of Drumsnat parish, the parish church of which (MO013-002003-) is c. 5km to the SE. St Molua of Kyle, Co. Laois (LA015-023001-) was a sixth century saint descended of the Corca Oiche sept of the Ulaidh. According to a twelfth century life influenced by Augustinian interests he was educated at the monastery of Bangor, Co. Down, before moving to Drumsnat and finally settling at Kyle (Ó Riain 2011, 490-3). Although Selloo is in a part of Clones parish within Monaghan barony, this is probably the site of the church that St. Molua established in Monaghan that became associated with Drumsnat.
A burial ground is represented by a rectangular grass-covered area (dims c. 20m NE-SW: c. 15m NW-SE) defined by field walls at NW and SW and occasional stones on the line of the perimeter elsewhere. The crude base of a cross and two bullaun stones were in the interior until 1968 at least. This is the burial ground that was thought to have been used exclusively for children after c. 1800 (Smyth 1953, 63) but there are no grave-markers. A shallow drainage trench dug across it N-S during 1983 unearthed bones and a fragment of a decorated shaft of a high cross (Harbison 1992, vol. 1, 167) that is now in the County Monaghan Museum. The burial ground is a within a circular grass-covered area (diam. c. 80-85m) defined by a scarp that is best preserved WNW-NE (at N: Wth c. 5m; H c. 1m) and E-SW. The enclosure is overlain by field banks that approach from NE, SE, SW and NW and meet around the burial ground at its centre. (Brindley 1988, 49-50)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revision: 30 August 2017

References

Harbison, P. 1992 The high crosses of Ireland: an iconographical and photographic survey, 3 vols. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy. Bonn. Dr. Rudolf Habelt GMBH.

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

Brindley, A. 1988 Early ecclesiastical remains at Selloo and Kilnahalter, County Monaghan. Ulster Journal of Archaeology 51, 49-53.