Church (in ruins)

On top of a steep slope on the S-SE side of a small valley, surrounded by tillage and grassland. On the N side of a roughly lozenge-shaped graveyard (KK012-059002-). There are good views in all directions, especially along and across though valley, though somewhat limited to the S. According to Healy (1874-9, 44) this church is dedicated to St. Drenan whose feast day is the 12th of December. A rectangular undivided church (int. dims. 12.6m E-W; 7m N-S) of roughly coursed rubble, the mortar has a high pebble content (wall T 0.68m). The E end of the church is best preserved with side walls (H 3m) and E gable surviving. The E window and a window at the E end of the S wall survive but are obscured by ivy. The W end is poorly preserved, the W end of the N wall (L 4.8m) is missing as an area at the W end of the S wall where the doorway was located. The W gable largely survives to only a metre high. According to the OS Letters (1839), when the church was, 'entire excepting fifteen feet [4.5m] of the northern side wall near the western gable', the W gable had a broken belfry (O'Flanagan ed. 1930, vol. 1, 172 (56)). The E gable window is described as being round-headed, 'eight feet [2.4m] high and five feet eight inches [1.73m] wide on the inside, three feet six inches [1m] high and six and a half (?) inches [0.16m] in breadth outside, built up with cut stone' (ibid.). This E gable window survives, as does a window at the E end of the S wall. There is a 13th/early 14th-century graveslab (KK012-059003-) associated with this church. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 14 June 2019