Ecclesiastical enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

Conry church ruins (WM025-005001-) stands inside an Early Christian ecclesiastical enclosure on a natural rise of ground surrounded by poorly drained land known as the 'Island of Conry'. On the 1656-9 Down Survey map of Churchtown parish this townland was known as 'Conry & Cloghoule' (NLI, MS 723-4), the latter was anglicised to the present Croughal which lies in the parish of Churchtown. In 1641 the lands of Conry and Cloghoule belonged to Henry Dalton who is listed in the Down Survey as an 'Irish papist' (ibid.). The edge of the natural 'Island of Conry' appears to have been enclosed by a low earth and stone bank creating a roughly-D-shaped ecclesiastical enclosure (approx. dims. 210m NW-SE x 120m NE-SW). Conry church ruins (WM025-005001-)stand inside a sub-rectangular shaped graveyard (WM025-005006-) in N quadrant of the larger ecclesiastical enclosure. Two cross-inscribed graveslabs (WM025-005003-/004-) lie inside the sub-rectangular shaped graveyard.
Site described in 1978 as following; 'To the NW of the church (WM024-005001-) there is a rough limestone slab with remains of an inscribed cross of Early Christian date (WM024-005003-). The church is on a low rise in low lying wet pasture land. The site is criss-crossed with earthworks & enclosures (Swan 1988, 22). To the SE of the church there is a possible house site.' (SMR file). The cross-slab and church are situated inside a large oval shaped enclosure (WM025-005002-). A second cross-slab (WM025-005004-) is located immediately S of the church.

See attached earthwork plan of site surveyed and drawn by the ASI

Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 05 March 2019

References

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.