Church (in Ruins)

In the NE angle of a graveyard (KK023-081002-). According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 371) the parish church of Dunfert, ‘dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel (Sept. 29), was impropriate in the Prior and Canons Regular of St. John’s Abbey, Kilkenny’. A well-preserved rectangular church. Entered through a round-headed doorway in the W gable. The interior was lit by a pointed two-light window in the N and S wall and by a pointed four-light window with switch-line tracery in the E gable. The W gable is surmounted by a bellcote for a single bell. The OS Letters (1839) refer to, ‘a door with a strong lock’ having been placed in the W doorway, ‘put on by Colonel Wemys, who had taken up the inside for the sepulture of his family’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 271-2 (91-2)). Carrigan mentions a graveslab (KK023-081003-) in the ground at the E end of the church, ‘beside where the altar stood’ (ibid. 371-2). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 6 September 2021