Church (in Ruins)

Listed as Clonard in the ecclesiastical taxation of Elphin in 1306 (CDI vol. 5, 224) and situated towards the top of the S-facing slope of a WNW-ESE ridge. Traditionally the burial place of the Mac Dermot Gall of Airtech (O'Flanagan 1931, vol. 1, 87; Mac Dermot 1996, 299). The grass-covered foundations of part of the S (L 5.m) and E (L 2.1m) walls of a church are at the centre of a rectangular graveyard (RO020-019002-) (dims. 32m E-W; 28m N-S) which is defined by a masonry wall and which contains 19th and 20th century headstones. A plain latin cross (RO020-0190004-) (H 0.5m; Wth 0.43m) of granite (Wth of shaft 0.22m; T 0.03m) and a T-shaped cross (RO020-019005-) (H 0.8m; Wth 0.83m) of shale (Wth of shaft 0.28m; T 0.05m) are in the graveyard. The site of Cloonard Abbey (RO020-019003-), of which is little is known other than its designation on the 1837 and 1914 eds. of the OS 6-inch map and of which nothing is visible, is immediately adjacent to the W. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 24 August 2010

The church at Cloonard was likely built in the medieval period, possibly as early as the 13th or 14th century, and is associated with the ecclesiastical taxation records of Elphin. It is traditionally linked to the Mac Dermot Gall of Airtech family and may have had a local or regional significance as a place of worship and burial.