Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a level landscape. The parish church of Ballymore, which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary (Hore 1862-3, 67; O’Flanagan 1933, vol. 1, 118), is within a subrectangular graveyard (dims c. 40-45m NE-SW; c. 40-50m NW-SE) defined by low earthen banks and hedges, with a gateway at the W end of the SW side to a public road. It is not recorded in the visitation of Thomas Ram in 1615 (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 265-74), so the church may have been abandoned and the parish united with Kilscoran (WX048-014001-) by that time (Lewis 1837, vol. 2, 207).

The church consists of the ivy-covered walls of a nave (ext. dims 16.6m NW-SE; 6.8m NE-SW; int. dims 14.38m NW-SE; 5.2m NE-SW), which was the original church. The nave walls survivie to the roof level (H 2.3m), except the NE wall which is reduced (H 1-1.25m). There is a later chancel (ext. dims 7.35m NW-SE; 5.4m NE- SW; int. dims 6.12m NW-SE; 3.9m NE-SW) with reduced walls (int. H 0.7-1m; ext. H 0.9-1.8m) that have no visible features. A round headed doorway (Wth 1.2m; H 1.7m) of undressed stone towards the W end of the SW wall of the nave is opposite the remains of a N doorway. There are two rectangular windows in the SW nave wall, the W one that is E of the doorway is robbed in a lintelled embrasure. The E window (Wth 0.18m; H c. 0.5-0.6m) has a glazing groove and is set in a lintelled embrasure (Wth 1.04m; H 1.02m). There is a narrow light in the W gable, but the bellcote is destroyed.
There is a redundant pointed aumbry (Wth 0.46m; H 0.95m; D 0.38m) at the E end of the S wall, and there is a projecting shelf, probably for a statute, in the E wall of the nave on the N side. The pointed chancel arch of undressed stone (Wth 2.05m; H 1.66m) is inserted into the SE wall of the nave, which was the original SE wall of the church. The embrasure (Wth 1.28m; H 2.25m) of the original SE window can be seen in the masonry above the present chancel arch. There is a fragment of an octagonal font within the nave and there is a rectangular granite font (ext. dims 0.76m x 0.68m; H 0.3m; int. dims 0.55m x 0.45m; D 0.26m) outside the S doorway of the church.

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: 15 October, 2013

References

Hore, H. F. 1862 An account of the barony of Forth, in the county of Wexford, writtten at the close of the seventeenth century. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 7, 53-84.

Lewis, S. 1837 A topographical dictionary of Ireland, 2 vols. London. Lewis and Co.