Cathedral

The National Monuments Service's description

At the N end of Achonry graveyard (SL032-188003-) and immediately E of St Crumnathy's, an early 19th-century deconsecrated C of I cathedral. Part of the E gable (int. Wth 6.85m) and the N wall (surviving length 14.7m; H 1.2m) of the church survive in poor repair and heavily clad with ivy. In the centre of the E gable are the fragmentary remains of a window which had three sub-arches with switchline tracery above, cut in limestone, and is late 15th/early 16th century in form. The interior of the church is overshadowed by a sycamore tree, and partially covered by scrub undergrowth. A block of stone decorated with concentric circles, possibly a corbel, was recently found within it where it had been reused as a grave-marker (pers. comm. M. A. Timoney). This is the site of a church founded by St Finnian in the 7th century though 'nothing further is known of the history of Achonry until the twelfth century' (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 60). Achonry was a separate diocese during part of the late medieval period (ibid.) and a cathedral is mentioned here in the 1680s (Ó Muraíle 2002, 240, n. 24), so this is probably the remains of this structure. It was inadvertently named 'R.C. Chapel' on the 1914 OS 6-inch map. A possible church (SL032-188001-) lies c. 100m to the NE and a holy well (SL032-188006-) is c. 100m to the SE.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008