Aghacrew Church (in ruins)

On flat elevated pasture overlooking Multeen River to the N and E in upland river valley. No visible trace of the church at ground level. According to the landowner it was bulldozed, along with the graveyard (TS051-017002-), in the 1960s. Described by White (1892, 60) as being an 'old church' which was 'quite ruinous, but it was built of very good material. There are among the debris very excellent large flagstones'. Seymour (1916, 145-6) described the monument as consisting of a 'graveyard marked out by low mounds. The church stood in the extreme north-west angle of this; only the foundations remain, and even these are so ruined that measurements cannot be taken, but it was evidently a small edifice'. The church is listed in the year 1291 in the Papal Taxation and in 1622 Archbishop Hamilton describes the church as having 'neither parishioners nor other means' (ibid.). The present landowner came across large flagstones in the garden beside Glenview House, which may be the flagstones described by White in 1892. The OS Letters describe how the 'old church of this parish has long since disappeared and its graveyard is now deserted. Its site is marked by some white thorn trees and some old graves but no headstones or monuments of any kind.' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1 , 102). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011