Church

The National Monuments Service's description

On rock outcrop in undulating terrain. Very steep drop immediately W and N of church walls as a result of large scale quarrying. The quarry is marked on 1st (1840) and 2nd (1901-05) ed. OS 6-inch map and according to landowner continued in use up to the 1920s-30s. The church is located immediately N of the graveyard (TS076-036001-). The 'Church of Ballynlegane' is mentioned in the Civil Survey (1654-6) (Simington 1931, vol.1, 350). Only part of the W gable survives, upstanding (H c. 2.5m; T 1.2m) for a length of 3m. It is built of rubble and appears to be roughly coursed, obscured by heavy ivy growth. The outline of the remainder of the church is visible as a low wall, grass-covered for the most part. The N side has mostly collapsed into the quarry with only the foundation surviving. It consists of a nave (int. dims. 5.7m N-S; 11.5m E-S) and chancel (dims. 4.5m x 4.14m (O'Flanagan 1930, vol.2, 135). The S side is difficult to discern due to heavy overgrowth and dumping on top. According to the OS Letters the church originally measured 'thirty seven feet [11.3m] in length by seventeen feet [5.2m] in breadth, as ascertained by means of the parts of the walls now remaining and the foundations of the parts of the building demolished. The remains consist of a portion of the west gable, not retaining its original height; half the breadth of the gable at south sidewall is much battered; twenty two feet [6.7m] in length of the north sidewall attached to the gable, near which it is injured inside and does not retain the original height; the highest part of the wall, twenty two feet in length, is no more than eight feet [2.4m]; the thickness of the wall is two feet seven inches [0.8m] and only eleven feet [3.3m] in length of the south sidewall near where the east gable stood; this is the same height with the above wall, eight feet, and is three feet [0.9m] thick. There was an apartment attached to the east end which measured fifteen feet [4.5m] in length by thirteen feet seven inches [4.14m] in breadth. The foundation of the walls are still traceable; the materials were the same as used in the rest of the building. This was probably the choir [chancel] and the above apartment the nave of the Church. There is a lime stone quarry at north west corner of the ruin' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol.2, 136). Machinery has been dumped on the S side of the chancel and the SW of the nave. Foundation of the S wall [L 1.7m; T 0.73m] of the chancel is visible under machinery. The area of the church is badly overgrown with long grass and brambles, with a lot of loose stone and small stone piles lying around the S wall.

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.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1931 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol I: county of Tipperary: eastern and southern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.