Church in Abbeylara

Within a graveyard (LF011-036004-) c. 25m NW of a Cistercian abbey (LF011-036001-) are the wall-footings of a church (ext. dims. 14.1m E-W, 8.45m N-S, Wall T 0.85m). It is depicted as a church located in the NW quadrant of the graveyard on all eds. of the OS 6-inch map but it is not possible to assign a date to it on the basis of the upstanding remains. The building was probably a late 18th or early 19th century Church of Ireland church. Some of the dressed stone from this demolished church appears to have been incorporated into the fabric of the graveyard wall to the SW of the church site. It was described in the early 19th century as the parish church of Lerha or Abbey-Laragh which now 'occupies the site of the former monastic buildings' (Brewer, J.N., The Beauties of Ireland (1826) vol. 2, 263). This church appears to be the 'new church' recorded by Nicholas Carlisle in 1810 (Carlisle 1810, 2). (ITA Survey 1944) Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 26 August 2011