Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a shelf on top of cliffs overlooking Ardmore Bay, which is to the N. This is a possible hermitage church of Ardmore, where St Declan retired to die (Power 1914, 69), although the structure is probably late medieval in date. There is no evidence of a graveyard, although one is named on the 1840 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. The church is a rectangular structure (dims. c. 23m E-W; c. 6m N-S) of which only the W gable, with a damaged central opening and a window above, survives complete. The S wall (H c. 1.5m) has a blocked doorway (Wth 0.77m) towards the W end and an aumbry, doorway, or large window, towards the E end, and the N wall is now destroyed.

There is an aumbry in the E wall and a ringed finial cross (H 0.32m Wth 0.3m) with its base (dims. 0.3m x 0.28m; H 0.15m) is on a pier (dims. 1.5m x 0.85m; H c. 1.2m) abutting the W face of the E wall. The cross has an octagonal cross-section, and its top arm is missing. There are blocks of Dundry stone in the pier which are deeply marked with crosses incised by pilgrims attending the pattern at St Declan’s Well on July 24th (Power 1932c, 28-30).

St Declan’s Well (WA040-011002-) has a masonry superstructure and is just 20m W of the church. It has two openings facing E and is surmounted by two (originally three) crosses, all late medieval in character. The S cross that is missing was illustrated by Westropp (1903, 377, 5) as a shield-shaped piece wider than it was tall with a crudely executed figure. The present S cross is a sandstone plaque (dims. H 0.46m; Wth 0.2m; T 0.12m) with a crucified figure. The N cross is a cross-shaped sandstone (H 0.58m; Wth 0.27m; T 0.12m) with a crucified figure. St Declan’s Stone (WA040-010----), also associated with the pattern, is on the beach c. 550m to WNW. (Power 1932c, 27-8; Power 1898b, 160-1; Westropp 1903, 375-6)

Power, Rev. P. (1898b) Excursion guides – 2: Ardmore. WAJ 4, 147-63.
Power, Rev. P. (1914) the Life of St Declan of Ardmore, and the Life of St Mochuda of Lismore. Irish Texts Society. London.
Power, Rev. P. (1932c) Ardmore; its founder and early Christian monuments. Catholic Truth Society. Dublin
Westropp, T. J. (1903) Notes on the antiquities of Ardmore. JRSAI, 33, 353-80.

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.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload/revision: 21 October 2011