What is recorded here

On a level knoll in County Mayo, two low stony banks form an L-shape beside a standing round tower, perhaps marking the south and east walls of a lost church. The area is now covered by newer graves, yet scattered cut stones and a round-headed window fragment still lie among them, waiting to be recognised. What is gone from sight has not gone from the ground; the church lives on through the shapes and fragments it left behind.

Located in a graveyard (MA071-028002) which encloses a round tower (MA071-028003-) and a cross-slab (MA028-028004-). The OS Letters record that two portions of the S wall of this church were extant in the 1830’s, located to SE of the round tower (O’Flanagan 1929, 383(158)). The location is marked as ‘Church (site of)’ on the 1931 OS 6-inch map. There are no upstanding remains of the church. Two low, grass-covered stony banks (Wth c. 1m; H c. 0.3) set perpendicular to each other are visible c. 10m SE of the round tower towards the E end of on the level summit of the knoll: one bank measures c. 6m ENE−WSW, and from its ENE end a shorter length of bank (L c. 3m) extends to NNW. It is possible that this L-shaped arrangement may represent remnants of the S and E walls of the church. The area is overlain by grave plots of relatively recent date. A number of pieces of cut stone (MA030-028005-), including a fragment of a round-headed window, which were found in the graveyard, are likely to have come from the church. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 21 June 2018

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