Church

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument No. 265. Taghmon derived from the Irish Tigh/Teach Munna meaning the house of Munna a late sixth / early seventh century saint who died in 635. This saint was the son of Tulchán and has been variously assigned to belonging to either the Ceinéal Conaill of Donegal, the Corca Raoidhe [Corkaree] of Westmeath and the Corca Oiche of Limerick (Ó Riain 2011, 505). His feastday is commemorated on the 21st of October (Ibid., 507). Church building standing beside castle (WM012-074----) depicted on the 17th century Down Survey map of Corkaree Barony (NLI, MS 723-4).
Medieval fortified church known as St. Munna's Church stands in the centre of a graveyard (WM012-076001-) with Taghmon Castle (WM012-074----) 150m to NW, motte and bailey (WM012-079----) castle 350m to SE. The church and graveyard appears to have been built on the site of the early Christian monastery (WM012-076003-) founded by St. Munna.
Described in 1980 as following; ‘This is a rectangular church with a residential tower at the west end. Church and tower are the same width and appear to be contemporary. The church is entered by a gothic doorway of limestone with a mutilated sandstone head of a bishop above, at the west end of the north wall of the church. There is a blocked up doorway at the west end of the south wall. There are two single ogee headed windows in both the north and south walls. The windows are of sandstone with moulded hoods. The more westerly window in the north wall has a sheela-na-gig (WM012-076002-) above it (also of sandstone). The east window is a large pointed opening outlined by dressed limestone which appears to be 19th c. date. The original tracery and mullions are missing. The lower courses of the outer walls of the church and tower are battered and rise to their full height with stepped battlements protecting a wall walk. Inside the church is roofed with a high barrel vault. There is a fine piscina in the east end of the south wall. There are two aumbries to the west of it and a large aumbry in the east end of the north wall. The window opes are widely splayed within. There is no sign of a division between nave and chancel. The lower floor of the tower is vaulted and is entered only from the church by a simple pointed doorway at the southern end of the west wall. A doorway, simple pointed, at the north end of the west wall leads to a spiral stairs leading to apartments in the tower. A vaulted roof covers the second floor and forms the floor of the third floor. Each floor contains a rectangular room and a very small room off it. In all the tower is four storeys high. The upper storey, now open to the sky. Corbels and the line of a wooden roof can be still be seen above the top floor. A blocked doorway on the stairs leads out to the top part of the church. There appears to have been an apartment below the vaulted rood originally. A small slit window exists high in the south wall near the west end. This would have lighted an attic room above the nave. There is a garderobe in the west wall of the small room on the third floor. At the north end of the west wall of the tower (outside) is a sandstone head. The building measures 9.2m N-S by 20.8m E-W. The tower being 6m wide E-W. The church being 14.8m E-W (outside measurements). The church is set within a roughly rectangular graveyard (WM012-076001-) bounded by a bank. The graveyard contains a number of 18th c., 19th c. and 20th c. tombstones’ (SMR File, 24/10/1980; CUCAP BDV078).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 27 January 2016

References

CUCAP - Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs. Unit for Landscape Modelling, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. See:https://www.cambridgeairphotos.com

NLI, MS 723-4 - National Library of Ireland, The parish maps of the Down Survey for the County of Westmeath, attested by W. Petty, in 1659. Copied by Daniel O'Brien. A set of 67 maps with accompanying terriers in two volumes, 1786-7. Dublin.

Ó Riain, P. 2011 A dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin. Four Courts Press.