Church in Ballycallan

On a low rise with good views to the NE, SE and S but limited elsewhere due to higher ground. The medieval church is not visible at ground level. According to the OS Letters (1839), ‘It is probable that the present Protestant Church, which may be fifty years old [built c. 1790], occupies the site of the ancient one’ (O’Flanagan ed. 1930, vol. 1, 235 (79)). The C of I church had itself been demolished by 1900 as it does not appear on the revised 6-inch OS map. Several medieval architectural fragments from the church have been reused in the graveyard (KK018-072002-) as grave-markers. A ‘small ancient cross' (KK022-008----) was identified c. 1km to the SE in the 1850s and it was suggested that it may have been the gable cross (KK018-072003-) of the medieval church (Anon. 1854-5, 343-4). There are four graveslabs (KK018-072004-; KK018-072005-; KK018-072006-; KK018-072007-) in the graveyard, which appear to be of 13th/14th-century date. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 3 February 2021