Killavinoge Church (in Ruins)

Situated on a low natural rise in gently rolling pastureland. The church (TN024-009001) is at the W end of a roughly rectangular graveyard which is enclosed by a stone wall. Only the grass-covered lower wall-footings of a divided nave and chancel church survive with a very overgrown cross-wall. A gap at the W end of the S wall indicates a possible entrance. A small separate plot enclosed by a stone wall has been built at the W end of the church containing the vault of the Lidwell family. The interior has a very undulating surface with a lot of ground disturbance. The headstones in the graveyard all appear to be of nineteenth and twentieth-century date. Portion of a curving enclosure appears immediately W of the church and graveyard on an aerial photograph taken in 1973 (GSIAP, S 43/42). This enclosure is less convincing on the ground although there is a broad rise which may be the remains of a levelled bank (Wth c. 8m; ext. H 0.6m). At the S end of this possible bank there is an external dip (Wth c. 3m) which suggests an outer fosse. The graveyard is on a natural ridge which extends W of the graveyard and terminates naturally before it reaches this possible bank. It seems likely that the limit of this natural ridge would have been utilised unless a much larger enclosure was required. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien. Date of upload: 22 September 2008