What is recorded here

Rosbeg parish endured from c. 1100 AD until the late 1700s, losing its church wall by 1700 when Bishop Dive Downes found only rubbish in an orchard at Ballbricken. The sacred ground may have become the walled garden near Ballybricken House, but industrial buildings now cover the place where people once prayed, buried their dead and tended what remained of the parish.

O Murchadha (1960, 19-20) records Rosbeg as a parish from c. 1100 AD until the end of the 18th century, sometimes called Teampall Breacáin (modern townland of Ballybricken). The site of Rosbeg church (CO087-049----) was noted by Bishop Dive Downes in October 1700 as 'a heap of rubbish in Mr. Abraham Dicksons orchard at Ballbricken' (Lunham 1909, 176). The 1842 OS 6-inch map shows a walled garden NW of Ballybricken House, but in Ballintaggart townland which may be the location referred to above. This is also likely to be the site of the 'early Irish church and graveyard which O'Leary (1918, 159) describes as being in Ballintaggart townland 'on the lawn before Mr. Birds house'. Listed by Hurley (1982, 302-3) as one of the 'principal sites' of the early church in the south-west of Ireland. Area now occupied by industrial complex; no visible surface trace. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

The church at Ballintaggart was likely built by the local Christian community, possibly under the patronage of the Ó Murchadha family, by the early 12th century. It was dedicated to St. Breacán and served as a parish church within the medieval diocese of Ross, reflecting the continuity of ecclesiastical tradition in the region until the 18th century.

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