Meelnagh Church (in ruins)

Located at the crest of a N and E-facing slope. This is the parish church of Meelnagh within a subrectangular graveyard. According to a Visitation by Thomas Ram, the Protestant bishop of Ferns, in 1615 Murtagh McParson was the priest, and the church and chancel were in repair (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 271). There are grass covered foundations of a building orientated E-W (dims. 10m E-W; 6.5m N-S) within a subrectangular graveyard (dims. c. 47m E-W; c. 37m N-S) defined by a masonry wall at the roadside at N and E and by earthn banks and hedges elsewhere. Immediately to the E of the foundations are the remains of a mortuary chapel (int. dims. 4.9m E-W; 4m N-S), probably nineteenth century in date, built of mortared shale and quartz perhaps on the site of the chancel. There is a fragment of a window surround with a central glazing groove (L 0.26m) in the graveyard. Tobermaclura (WX021-027----), a natural spring at which patterns were held on 22nd June until c. 1800 (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 92) is c. 180m to the ENE. Archaeological testing (03E0953) c. 25m to the SE of the graveyard in Ballytarsna townland failed to produce any related material (Stafford 2006). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 31 July 2012

Meelnagh Church, located in Killagowan, was likely built in the early 17th century and served as the parish church for the local community. Its significance lies in its historical role as a center of worship and its mention in the 1615 Visitation by Bishop Thomas Ram, indicating its importance in the ecclesiastical landscape of the time.