Church

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight rise in a low-lying, level landscape. The parish church of Carne, which Synnott writing c. 1680 tells us was dedicated to St. Fintan (Munnu) (Hore 1921, 60; Dalton 1921, 29), is within a subrectangular graveyard (dims c. 70m WNW-ESE; c. 30m NNE-SSW) defined by masonry walls at W and N and by earthen banks at E and S. According to the visitation of Bishop Thomas Ram, the Protestant bishop of Ferns, in 1615 Apollo Waller was the vicar and the church and chancel were in repair (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 267). The present abandoned Church of Ireland church (ext. dims 14.6m E-W; 6.05m N-S), which continued in use until the 1950s, has original material in the double bellcote on the stepped W gable and the reused porch door frame of coarse granite, which is a pointed doorway (Wth 0.96m; H 1.96m). There is a blocked arcade in the S wall of two pointed arches (Wth 2.12; 2.24; H 2.6m) that are supported on a central square pillar (H 1.5m) with chamfered edges and a square capital that may have led to a S aisle. There is no evidence of a N aisle. Archaeological testing (03E1392) immediately N of the graveyard produced no archaeological material (Fallon 2006), and testing (05E0549) immediately S of it had a similar result (O'Connor 2008).

The abive 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 March, 2014

References

Fallon, D. 2006 Churchtown. Churchyard. in I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 2003: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 531, No. 2012. Bray, Wordwell

Hore, P.H. 1900-1911 (Reprint 1979) History of the town and county of Wexford, 6 vols. Dublin. Published by arrangement with W.A. Hennessy Esq.

Hore, P.H. 1921 The barony of Forth, Part 2. The Past 2, 38-99.

O'Connor, D.J. 2008 Churchtown. No archaeological significance. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2005: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 397, No. 1616. Dublin. Wordwell.

Dalton, J. 1921 Saint Vauk of Carne. The Past, vol. 2, 1-37.