Kilshanvy Church (in ruins)

On roadside at SE end of a small house cluster, it stands 125m SE of a crossing point of the Kilshanvy River. There is no trace of a graveyard. The remains comprise a rectangular medieval church (E-W; L 14.3m, Wth 6.14m) in fair condition. Though ivy-clad, both gables and S wall stand to their original height but most of N wall is rebuilt The interior was used as a handball court (Topgr. Files, NMI), the plastering for which obscures much of the walls. The original doorway, now robbed, lies towards W end of S Wall. There is also a recently blocked doorway in W gable, its crude jambs having a slightly trabeate form but it is probably a later insertion. The E gable contains a single-light pointed window with chamfered jambs and there are two single-light windows in S wall. There is also a single-light window at W end of S wall, at 1st-floor level. When coupled with the beam slots visible above W doorway, this indicates the former presence of a loft at this end. An old watermill mill stands 100m to N. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 26) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010