Our Ladys Church (in ruins)

National Monument in state ownership No. 134. Situated on level ground overlooking the valley of the Glenealo River to the S and the Lower Lake to the SW. 'Our Lady's' or 'St Mary's' church, which has been partly restored, is located within a square enclosure on raised level ground W of the main graveyard (WI023-028005-). It may have been built for use by women or nuns. It was originally a single-celled structure (dims. L 9.9m; Wth 6.2m) but a chancel (dims. L 6.3m; Wth 5.5m) and a N door were added in the twelfth century. The lower coursing is of large blocks of mica schist and granite. The W door has inclined jambs and is lintelled, with an early form of architrave on the exterior and an incised saltire cross on the soffit. The nave is lit by a round-headed window in the S wall with a small hood-moulding while a similar window in the E gable has hood-moulding decorated with a key pattern, terminating in worn animal heads. There are two decorated cross-slabs in the chancel and a number of rude crosses and cross-slabs in the graveyard (Leask 1950, Fig. 4 a-f, 42). At the E end of the chancel on a rectangular pile of stones is a subcircular bullaun stone with a single basin (Healy 1972, 116). (Leask 1950, 14-16; 1977, 74) See attached screenshots of 3D model of church created by The Discovery Programme. 3D model can be accessed at the following website: https://skfb.ly/BTKG The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 19 December 2012 See linked document with plan taken from Robert Cochrane Historical and Descriptive Notes with Ground Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Ecclesiastical Remains at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Extract from the Eightieth Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland 1911-12. Dublin, 1925.