Rathmichael Church

The church lies on the E slopes of Carrickgollogan. A church of nave and chancel type stands within the enclosure, the gables stand to full height. The church is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel (O'Brien 1988, 519). The church is built of coursed granite masonry with dressed granite quoins. The interior is lit by a round-arched ope in a deep embrasure under a lintel believed to be a re-used graveslab (Anon 1900, 187). The window jambs are hollow-chamfered with glazing bar-holes present (int. dims. L5.10m, Wth 3.3m). The side wall and corner of the nave survives (int. dims. L 16.1m, Wth 10m). It is lit by a plain rectangular ope. The W and S walls are buttressed. A portion of these walls maybe pre-Norman in date (O'Brien 1988, 519). Against the S wall of the chancel is a graveslab fragment and three grave slabs of Rathdown type. There are five other graveslabs against the W end of the S wall. They comprise a slab bearing two sets of three concentric circles joined by a central band which is divided into three transverse lines (Ó hÉailidhe 1973, 53, 56-7); a very worn slab bearing two sets of three concentric circles with a cupmark in the centre of each (Ó hÉailidhe 1973, 56-7); a very worn slab bearing only two cupmarks; a slab bearing one large cupmark from which five lines radiate to the end of the stone; a slab with a slightly raised central band on which there are two cupmarks joined by a single line; a slab bearing one large cupmark and traces of vertical and horizontal lines. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy. Revised upload on: 15 April 2018.

Rathmichael Church, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, is a medieval nave and chancel church on the east slopes of Carrickgollogan. It dates to the early Christian period and is significant as a surviving example of a church associated with a major saint in Irish tradition.