What is recorded here

No visible ogham stone remains in the ruined church at Clonelty, though local tradition claims one was buried inside the wall and waited for a reader. The story says a poor scholar discovered the marks, read them aloud and learned that treasure hid behind the stone. The church itself still stands partly complete, its Romanesque fabric dating from before the Norman period, while later medieval work appears in the arcade and south window. That much is visible; the treasure and the hidden stone belong to the kind of claim people make when a ruined wall seems to be keeping a promise.

On slightly raised area in NE quadrant of graveyard (LI037-107---) area the remains of the parish church of Clonelty possibly dedicated to the seventh century St. Ita or Íde of Killeedy (Lewis 1837, 51). The church and graveyard appear to have been enclosed by a multi-vallate Early Christian enclosure (LI037-051001-). The main fabric of the church and W doorway is Romanesque in character and pre-Norman in date. The arcade and S window appear to be late-medieval insertions, possibly date from the 16th-17th century. Local folklore recorded the presence of a possible ogham stone (LI037-051002-) that had been incorporated into the fabric of the pre-Norman church (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0488, 450-1). The folklore recorded that a "poor scholar" 'went into the monastery, and as he gazed around, he noticed some writing on a stone in the wall. He examined it closely and found it to be an "ogham". He read the words aloud, which meant there is a hidden treasure behind this stone' (ibid.). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 14 March 2019

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