Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located at the SE edge of a plateau with a small W-E stream c. 90m to the S and the N-S Owenduff River c. 140m to the E. This is the parish church of Owenduff within a D-shaped graveyard (dims c. 55m E-W; c. 45m N-S) defined by an earthen bank and hedge with traces of stone-facing but with a masonry wall on the curved edge at a roadside S-W. The church is a rectangular building (ext. dims 20m E-W; 6.32m N-S) with walls almost complete to roof level (T 0.9m; H c. 2m), except two destroyed embrasures in the N and S walls and the W wall that is reduced to a few courses. A large window in the E wall is robbed and all the cut stone has been removed. A drawbar socket on the E side of a doorway survives towards the W end of the S wall, and there is a plain aumbry towards the E and of the same wall. A circular granite font (ext. diam. 0.63m; int. diam. 0.45m; D 0.15m; ext. H 0.25m plus) is within the church. According to John O’Donovan writing c. 1840 (O’Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 359-60) there was a holy well called Tobar Cholmáin (WX040-060----) within 200m of the church, but its location is not known.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). 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 February, 2013