Garryvoe Church (in Ruins)

Just N of centre in graveyard (CO077-03701-), ruins of rectangular gabled church (16.9m E-W; 7.8m N-S), walls stand to near full height but ivy-clad. Entered by doorway near W end of S wall, roundly pointed stone arch over door with lintel over doorway embrasure. Central two-light ogee-headed window in E gable, mullion missing; embrasure roofed by plank-centred segmental arch. Single-light ogee-headed windows near E end of N and S walls; single-light flat-headed attic window at centre of W gable. Wall presses at E end of N wall and S end of E wall; piscina, in recess with pointed arch, near E end of S wall. Single stone (H 0.18m; 0.35m x 0.53m) projects from inside of E wall, between E window and NE corner (see CO088-03302-); may have supported statue (Coleman 1913, 31). In front of E window very ruined remains of stone altar. Well-preserved late medieval parish church of Garryvoe; in repair in 1615 (Brady 1863, vol. 2, 213), but in ruins by 1774 (ibid., 230). 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

Garryvoe Church (in Ruins), Garryvoe Lower is a 17th-century rectangular gabled church, likely built by a local Catholic community during the post-Reformation period. Its survival in a largely ruined state reflects its historical significance as a place of worship under persecution, and it is an example of early modern ecclesiastical architecture in a rural Irish context.