Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight rise in a low-lying, level landscape, with the original shore of Ballyteige Lough that was known as Mablen Haven in the 17th century (Simington 1953, 125, 149), c. 250m to the S. The parish church of Ballymagir or Killag parish is within a subrectangular graveyard (dims c. 40m NE-SW; c. 25-30m NW-SE) defined by earthen banks, with a masonry wall at NE where a path (L c. 30m) leads to a NW-SE public road. The church is reputed to be dedicated to St. Degumen, a Welsh saint (Culleton 1999, 130). For St. Decumen see this web-page accessed on 7 April 2014: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decuman
This church consists of a nave (ext. dims 10.9m E-W; 6.05m N-S) and chancel (ext. dims 8m E-W; 4.65m N-S) with the E and W gables complete. The ivy-covered side walls survive to a height of c. 2.5m, except the N nave wall that has large gaps. There is a pointed doorway (Wth 0.73m; H 1.72m) of dressed granite towards the W end of the S nave wall but there is no trace now of the N nave doorway recorded by John O'Donovan writing c. 1840 (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 204-6). The W gable has a double bellcote and a slit window. There are corbels for a gallery at the W end of the nave. There is a rectangular window (Wth 0.22m; H 0.6m) W of the S doorway and a relieving arch, which was probably a tomb recess E of the doorway, is now broken out. There is a wicker-centered burial vault (int. dims 2.25m E-W; 1.46m N-S; H 1m plus) with an open passage (L 1m plus) extending S beneath the relieving arch in the S nave wall.
The chancel arch is destroyed and the W end of the chancel is rebuilt to provide a mortuary enclosure for a family of O’Neill in the 19th century, but much of the walls are original. There is a pointed piscina (Wth 0.45m; H 0.77m; D 0.35m) of dressed sandstone at the E end of the S wall, and a cupboard (Wth 0.55m; H 0.37m; D 0.38m) at the N end of the E wall. There are single rectangular windows in the N (Wth 0.26m; damaged) and S (Wth 0.68m; H 1m) walls, but the E window has been robbed from its pointed embrasure (Wth 2m; H 2.56m). There is an arched tomb-recess (Wth 2.14m; H 1.68m; D 0.22m) on the S side wall with possibly another to its W, and there are two on the N wall. The more easterly of those on the N wall with attached pilasters was an Easter Sepulchre where the Host was kept between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, to symbolise Christ's death.
Four stones from what was probably a wall memorial have recently been identified (Corlett 2015). An armorial stone (dims 0.71m x 0.41m) has two crests, one representing Walsh, and the other more complex crest includes elements of the Whitty and Deveraux crests. The stone is carved in shallow false relief with the date 1637 at the bottom and the initials 'I W' over the more complex crest. Two other stones could have provided supports and a fourth fragment (dims 0.7m x 0.5m) has some of the symbols of the Passion carved on it, including the ladder, pincers, the dice and the seamless robe.

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 revision: 20 March, 2015

References

Corlett, C. 2015 Seventeenth-century Monument at Killag, Co. Wexford. Archaeology Ireland, 29, 1, No. 111, 24-5.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1953 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. IX: county of Wexford. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Culleton, E. 1999 Celtic and Early Christian Wexford. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999.