Church in ruins

In deciduous woodland, located on a low N-S ridge. There is a N-S road immediately to W. This church is shown on the 1922 OS 6-inch map as a rectangular building, named ‘Kildavaroge Church (in Ruins)’. John O’Donovan recorded in the 1838 OS Letters that ‘In the townland of Kildavaroge near Lough Con in this parish are the ruins of a very small old church of which I have no account, nor does tradition preserve any except that it was founded by St. Davarroge’ (O’Flanagan 1927, 98). The outline of a rectangular building (7.4m E-W; 5.2m N-S) can still be traced, defined on the N, E and S by wall footings (Wth 0.7-0.8m; H 0.2-0.5m), largely concealed by moss and ivy. A gap (Wth c. 1m) roughly mid-way along the S wall may be the location of a doorway. The W side of the church is now defined by a N-S earth and stone field fence, which borders the road; remnants of the original church wall may be incorporated into the field fence, but there is no clear evidence of this. On the 1838 OS 6-inch map the church is shown within a rectangular wooded enclosure (30-35m N-S; c. 20m E-W), bordered on the W side by the road; this may have defined the area of a graveyard (MA038-061002-). Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 29 July 2019

The church at Kildavaroge was likely built in the early medieval period, possibly by a local monastic or ecclesiastical community, and is dedicated to St Davog or a similar early Irish saint. Its ruined structure, recorded in 1922, reflects a simple rectangular plan typical of early Christian churches in Ireland.