Church

The National Monuments Service's description

The church of Drum Conaille, probably the original parish church of Boyle, is listed as Drunn in the ecclesiastical taxation of Elphin in 1306 (Cal. Doc. Ire. vol. 5, 224), and was burnt by Farrell O'Rourke in 1487 (AFM vol. 4, 1156-7). It is situated at the bottom of a N-facing slope just 50m from the S bank of the W-E Boyle River, c. 1km before it enters Lough Key. Rectangular structure (ext. dims c. 16-16.5m E-W; 9-9.5m N-S) defined by the foundations of mortared stone walls and an inward-sloping scarp (H 0.3m) but a large dump of stone obscures the interior. A field wall runs N-S across the site. It is surrounded by the field system (RO006-026002-), and the souterrain (RO006-026003-) is nearby. It is mistakenly called Eas-mac-neirc by D'Alton (1845, 75-6)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 24 August 2010

References

D'Alton, J. 1845 The history of Ireland: from the earliest period to the year 1245. 2 vol. Dublin, Author.

Cal. doc. Ire. - Calendar of documents relating to Ireland 1171-1307, ed. H.S. Sweetman (5 vols., London, 1875-86).

AFM - Annals of the kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the earliest period to the year 1616, ed. and trans. John O'Donovan (7 vols., Dublin, 1851; reprint New York, 1966)