Church (in Ruins)

Marked on the 1563 map of Leix and Offaly (Hore 1863, f.p. 345). Possibly dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1907, vol. 1, 273). Situated in undulating countryside. Church (L c. 36m, Wth c. 16.1m, T c. 0.9m) constructed of roughly coursed limestone blocks, with remains of doorway in ruined N wall, and a broken-out window and aumbry in E end of S wall. Otherwise featureless. Archaeological monitoring was carried out by Jim Higgins in 1998 within the vicinity of Kilmurry church under excavation licence no. 98E0466. Archaeological monitoring was necessitated by the planned extension at the eastern end of a bungalow a short distance (6.5-7m) from the north-western corner of the apparently post-medieval (possibly late 16th/early 17th-century) church at Kilmurry. An area measuring a maximum of 1.9m x 2.5m was opened directly in front of the front door of the house, to a maximum depth of 0.9m. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted. Ten trenches of various sizes were machine-excavated and cleaned by hand in an area of c. 11m x 10m. No finds or archaeological deposits were present. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007