Church

The National Monuments Service's description

On the S end of a broad ridge which slopes steeply to the S beyond the graveyard to a small river valley running roughly E-W. In rushy terrain, rough grazing. The church (dims. 7m N-S; 15.9m E-W; wall T 0.9m) is on a rise in the southern part of the graveyard (TS071-019001-) which originally extended further northward. Aligned E-W, it is constructed of sandstone rubble, roughly coursed. Only the E gable (H 5-5.5m) stands to any height. It is heavily ivy clad, though there is a clear area in the interior where a section of wall has been rebuilt with well coursed sandstone blocks. All the remaining walls are visible as low collapsed wall (H 0.7-2m) with only the SE angle being quite well preserved, but this is obscured by ivy. The line of the S wall is largely composed of rubble. There is a gap (Wth 2.5m) mid-way along the N wall which probably indicates the position of the original doorway. There appears to be an external buttress (H c. 2m; Wth 0.65m) at the S end of the E gable. A sandstone shrine has recently been built onto the W end of the N wall. According to the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 57-8) the 'west gable and north wall are nearly destroyed but the south wall and east gable are in tolerable preservation. The east gable contains a small window placed at the unusual height of fifteen feet [4.5m] from the ground and measuring on the inside, where it is quadrangular, about five feet [1.5m] and three feet [0.9m] in width; on the outside it is constructed of cut limestone pointed at top and measures about three feet [0.9m] in height and not more than six inches [0.15m] in width'. A graveslab (TS071-019002-) possibly of 16th or early 17th-century date was noted within the SE quadrant of the church in the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 58).

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 26 August 2011

References

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Tipperary collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840. Bray.