Church

The National Monuments Service's description

19th century St. Nicholas Church of Ireland church may have been built on site of medieval church of Ballymorin depicted on the 1657 Down Survey map of Rathconrath barony and on the parish map of Ballymorin (NLI, MS 723-4) (Swan 1988, 22). On the parish map the church is depicted standing just N of the S boundary of the glebe land of Ballymorin with a house (WM017-101----) standing further to S in area where 'Almoritia' is annotated on current ed. OS 6-inch map. The terrier of the 1657 Down Survey map of Ballymorin parish stated that in this townland there was a 'House & Church' (NLI, MS 723-4). Present church located in N quadrant of graveyard (WM017-100001-).
Present Church of Ireland building described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as a, 'Freestanding Church of Ireland church, rebuilt c.1816 and altered c.1887, comprising three-bay hall with attached three-stage tower on square-plan to the west having a raised parapet with English-style crenellations and corner pinnacles. Shallow sanctuary/chancel added to east and a single-storey vestry added to northeast corner, c.1887. This appealing Church of Ireland church was rebuilt on the site of (and possibly incorporates the fabric of) an earlier church in the early nineteenth-century. It was rebuilt in a subdued Gothic style and retains its early form, character and fabric' (www.buildingsofireland.ie; Reg. No. 15401725).

Compiled and Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 09 January 2019

References

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.

Swan, D.L. 1988 The Early Christian ecclesiastical sites of County Westmeath. In J. Bradley (ed.), Settlement and society in Medieval Ireland: studies presented to F.X. Martin O.S.A., 1-31. Kilkenny. Boethius Press.