What is recorded here

On a broad south-facing spur above the Lough Oughter complex, a forgotten church once stood within a huge oval boundary stretching two hundred metres across the fields. The round tower still rises beside the graveyard, but the enclosing bank has softened into grassy ridges and shallow ditches that trace a lost circle through modern farms. Perhaps monks walked that rim at dawn, watching mist lift from Derrybrick and Drumlane Loughs while the whole valley held its breath.

Situated on the S-facing slope of a broad N-S spur with the northern end of Derrybrick Lough visible to the SE and the northern end of Drumlane Lough visible to the SW, both of which are at the NW edge of the Lough Oughter complex of lakes. The only evidence of the early church is the round tower (CV014-028002-) and the remnants of an ecclesiastical enclosure (diam. c. 220m N-S; c. 200m E-W) in the fields around the church (CV014-028003-) and graveyard (CV014-028009-). At N the enclosure is bounded by a grass-covered earthen bank (Wth 4m; int. H 0.2m; ext. H 0.6m) and outer fosse (Wth 4m; D 0.3m) that forms the N side of a triangular relict field situated between the car-park and a new graveyard. The boundary is continued by a low earthen bank in the field to the E, and it turns S where it meets the public road and runs past the E edge of the graveyard as a scarp. South of the graveyard it turns W and enters a confused area dominated by elements of a rectangular field system (CV014-028001-) that is probably late medieval or post-medieval in date. Further W the perimeter of the ecclesiastical enclosure turns N and can be traced as the vegetation mark of a fosse that almost connects with the N boundary of the triangular field. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 27 July 2018

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