Parish Church (in ruins)

At S end of the modern graveyard, 75m SSE of the 'Nunnery' (GA069-001005-). Named variously in older accounts as the 'Protestant' or 'Church of England' church (Cochrane 1901, 320; Fahey 1904, 134), indicating that it was in use until the 18th C. It is now a conserved Nat. Mon. comprising an intact rectangular church (E-W; L 15.8m, Wth 6.05m) possibly of the medieval date, though the heavy rendering makes dating difficult: an enigmatic vertical line is visible in the masonry of N wall towards E end. There is a pointed arch doorway in N wall, towards W end, for which Harbison (1975, 81) suggests a date 'about 1200'. The E gable incorporates a magnificent late Romanesque window (Cochrane 1901, 319-20; Leask 1977, 157-9). Opinions as to the original location of these two elements differ; Killanin and Duignan (1967, 56-7) suggest that the present structure 'may well occupy the site of an earlier church', but the view more commonly advocated is that the window came from the abbey (GA069-001013-). There are two pointed arch windows in S wall, a robbed window in N wall and a bell tower on the apex of W gable, and of which probably date to the 17th C or later. Within the interior are numerous cut-stone fragments, some of which may be 12th-13th C in date. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 268; Killanin 1951, 117) The monument was taken into Ownership under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 - National Monument 49. 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 The following image is attached: GA069-001011-.jpg Aerial view of monastic complex at Annaghdown with 'Parish Church' (GA069-001011-) centre left.