Cloonclare Church (in Ruins)

Situated in an undulating landscape on the floor of the Bonet River valley. This is the parish church of Cloonclare, which is listed in the Register of Clonmacnoise (O'Donovan 1857, 451; Pinkman 1942, 34). It is within a subrectangular graveyard (dims 45m NE-SW; 40m NW-SE) defined by masonry walls. It is an undi vided nave and chancel (int. dims 18.35m E-W; 6.6m N-S), of which only the W gable and parts of the adjacent walls survive (Wth 1.1m; max. H 6m) complete with dressed quoins. The other walls are reduced to foundations and cairn material (H c. 1m). There is a fragment of a door jamb in the S wall and a destroyed window ope in the W gable. A N transept (int. dims 5m N-S; 4.3m E-W) survives almost complete (H 3m), except for part of the E wall, and contains a single-light ogee-headed window in the W wall. A sandstone image carved three quarters in the round (L 0.76m; Wth 0.3m; H 0.18m) is in the church and represents a female figure in repose. The head is missing although the pillow on which it rested survives. It is wearing a cloak and the ruff at the neck indicates a late 16th or early 17th century date. It may represent a child, or be one figure from a larger memorial. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 September 2008