Church in Ballyconra, County Kilkenny

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What is recorded here

Read the whole record

On an island (dims. c. 50m roughly N-S; c. 215m roughly E-W) in the River Nore. The land on either side of the river is wet and very low lying. On the OS ortho image it can been seen that the river channel on the S side has been filled in and incorporated into the reclaimed land to the S. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 315-17) there is a tradition of an anchorite's cell located on this natural island in the River Nore. Carrigan states that the OS incorrectly indicate the name as 'Archer's Island' when it is actually called 'Anker's Island' in reference to the anchorite who once lived there (ibid.). The upper part of the island is low and bog and the southern part is fertile and somewhat elevated, only becoming flooded when the flood waters are unusually high (ibid.). Carrigan mentions that there were the remains of a little church on the island and that, 'it stood east and west, its length being about 30 ft. [c. 9m] and the breadth 15 ft. [c. 4.5m]. The walls are only 2ft. [0.6m] thick and, at present, being 2 ft. 4 in. [c. 0.7m] high' (ibid. 315). He states that, 'A century ago [c. 1800], or a little more, a vandal, named Edward McCulloch, removed most of the north, south, and east walls, and all the west wall; and made use of the materials in the building of Ballyconra mill' (ibid.).

From the National Monuments Service (Archaeological Survey of Ireland) record KK004-008001

Places near here

Photo credits

Maker not stated on source page, kr.pinterest.com
Maker not stated on source page, www.tota.world
Maker not stated on source page, www.flickr.com
Maker not stated on source page, en.topwar.ru
Maker not stated on source page, commons.wikimedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, www.dreamstime.com
Maker not stated on source page, www.pinterest.com
Maker not stated on source page, monumentalireland.ie
Maker not stated on source page, www.architecturaldigest.in
A.-K. D., Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage

Graveyard in BallyconraGraveyard · 11 yd

Explorer Tom Graveyard in Ballyconra is sitting on an island in the Nore, pretending it doesn't have a history problem with the…

Ballyconra graveyardCemetery · 118 yd

Explorer Tom Ballyconra graveyard in County Kilkenny has the strong opinion of the local sheep, who believe the dead are just very…

Castle in ruinsCastle, unclassified · 468 yd

Explorer Tom Grenan’s missing castle had a matchmaker who probably found more trouble than couples there. It’s vanished now, leaving…

Enclosure in GrenanEnclosure · 646 yd

Explorer Tom Enclosure in Grenan has had so many names it can’t remember which one is legally binding. It sits next to its twin…

Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in BallynasleeFairy fort / earthen ringfort · 1080 yd

Explorer Tom Fairy fort / earthen ringfort in Ballynaslee is deeply suspicious of the postman. He always drops letters right at its…

Graveyard in BallynasleeGraveyard · 1215 yd

Explorer Tom Graveyard in Ballynaslee is locked in a bitter feud with the next village over who has the best potatoes. It sits…

Ballynaslee GraveyardCemetery · 1217 yd

Explorer Tom Ballynaslee Graveyard in County Kilkenny has an imaginary twin across the sea that it writes letters to every year…

Megalithic structure in BallynasleeMegalithic structure · 1233 yd

Explorer Tom Megalithic structure in Ballynaslee plans for retirement by simply disappearing under the grass before anyone can ask…

Seskin RingfortArchaeological place · 1278 yd

Explorer Tom Seskin Ringfort had a fiddler who played there all night until the cows started singing back. Nobody knows if the cows…

CastleCastle, unclassified · 1684 yd

Explorer Tom Castle in Ballyconra was 'in repair' back in 1658, which is what we all say when we're actually just napping. The ghost…

Kilfinan Church (in ruins)Church · 1.0 mi

Explorer Tom Kilfinan Church nearly got famous when a tourist mistook it for a new art installation last summer. It just sat there…

Ballyconra HouseGates/railings/walls · 1.1 mi

Explorer Tom Ballyconra House gates made a New Year’s resolution to stop rusting and have been keeping it with suspiciously intense…

More historic places in County Kilkenny · All of County Kilkenny

Add to this placeAdd a picture Add a detailed tip Add a story

Explore the map1,095,414 places to discover