Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a level landscape. This is an early ecclesiastical site and the parish church of Kilmolash within a D-shaped graveyard (max. dims. c. 50m E-W; c. 45m N-S) defined by stone-clad earthen banks on the straight N and E sides, and a curving wall at the roadside SE-NW, now replaced by a picket fence. The nave (int. dims. 8.65m E-W; 5.75m N-S) and chancel (int. dims. 4.5m E-W; 4.25m N-S) survive almost complete, except the S nave wall, which has many gaps.

There is a pointed doorway (Wth 1.15m; H 1.9m) with a hood-moulding towards the S end of the W wall, with a stoup in the wall on the outside. The W wall has a base-batter and a double belfry over an ogee-headed gallery window. A rectangular doorway (Wth 0.82m H 1.43m) was inserted in the N wall, with a fragment of a 12th-century rosette motif on a stone (Wth 0.33m; H 0.27m) above the lintel externally (O'Keeffe 1994, 129-32). There are three breaches in the S nave wall, two of which were probably windows, and one window in the N wall is now destroyed. The round chancel arch of dressed stone has an inscription on the N pier which reads FEARE GOD, HONER THE KINGE, ANNO DOM 1635.

The chancel has a round-headed window towards the E end of both the N and S walls, that on the N using a cross-incsribed stone (Buckley 1899, 47) as the lintel of the embrasure. There was an altar in the chancel (Buckley 1896, 216), a few stones of which remain. The altar and a large inserted rectangular window opening in the E gable may be contemporary with the inscription on the chancel arch. There is a plain aumbry in the S wall, and an ogham stone with just the letters 'NN' (MacAlister 1945, vol. 1, 285-6) is used as a threshold to the chancel.

A graveslab with a cross in relief is incorporated into the foundation of the SW corner of the nave, and a graveslab (dims. 1.45m x 0.35-0.55m) with the head of an ecclesiastic (Buckley 1896, 218) is in the graveyard N of the chancel. The fragment of a font, originally found in the graveyard wall (ibid., 219), is now missing. There is a record of a possible holy well in one of the surrounding fields, but the location is unknown (O'C. Redmond 1895, 155). (Power 1898a, 89-92)

Buckley, M. J. C. (1896) Notes on Kilmolash Church, Near Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, WAJ vol. 2, 212-20.
Buckley, M. J. C. (1899) Ecclesiological gleanings and jottings in Waterford and elsewhere. (continued) WAJ vol. 5, 44-8.
Macalister, R. A. S. (1945) (reprint 1949) Corpus inscriptionum insularum Celticarum, 2 vols. Stationery Office, Dublin.
O'C. Redmond, G. (1895) Notes on the history, antiquities, archaeological remains and legends connected with the western end of the county Waterford, part II.WAJ 1, 119-32, 147-61.
O'Keeffe, T. (1994) Lismore and Cashel: reflections on the beginnings of Romanesque architecture in Munster. JRSAI 124, 118-52.
Power, Rev. P. (1898a) Ancient ruined churches of Co. Waterford, WAJ 4, 83-95, 195-219.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Revised by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 8 November 2011

References

O'Keeffe, T. 1994 Lismore and Cashel: reflections on the beginnings of Romanesque architecture in Munster. JRSAI 124, 118-52.

Power, Rev. P. 1898a Ancient ruined churches of Co. Waterford. Waterford and South East of Ireland Archaeological Journal 4, 83-95, 195-219.

Macalister, R.A.S. 1945 Corpus inscriptionum insularum celticarum. Dublin. Stationery Office.

Redmond, G. O'Connell 1895 Notes on the history, antiquities, archaeological remains and legends connected with the western end of the County Waterford. Waterford and South East of Ireland Archaeological Journal 1, 119-32, 147-61.

Buckley, M.J.C. 1896 Notes on Kilmolash Church, near Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. Waterford and South East of Ireland Archaeological Journal 2, 212-20.

Buckley M.J.C. 1898 Ecclesiological gleanings and jottings in Waterford and elsewhere. Journal of the Waterford and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 4, 105-9, 142-6.