Newcastle Church (in ruins)

Situated on a S-facing slope. This is the parish church of Newcastle within a subrectangular graveyard (dims. c. 45m E-W; c. 45m N-S) defined by stone walls. It is an undifferentiated structure (int. dims. 16.4m E-W; 5m N-S) of which the W gable with a rectangular window, and the E gable with a blocked ogee-headed window obscured by ivy, survive almost complete, but the other walls are reduced to the foundations. A chest tomb cover (dims. 1.9m x 1.1m) of James Ronan of Hacketstown dated 1626 (Walton 1980, 70) is in the NE corner of the church, but its side-panels with symbols of the Passion is in the SE corner. An octagonal font (ext. dim. 0.57m; H 0.45m) with a subrectangular basin (dims. 0.41m x 0.41m; D 0.23m) is just outside the church to the N. A castle site (WA016-025----) is c. 70m to the NW. (Martin 1874-5, 249-50; Power 1895, 169-70) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore. Date of upload/revision: 8th December 2011.