Killavinoge Church (in Ruins)

Situated on a low natural rise in gently rolling pastureland. The church is at the W end of a roughly rectangular graveyard (TN024-009002) which is enclosed by a stone wall. Only the grass-covered lower wall-footings (wall T c. 0.6m; H 0.6m) of a divided nave and chancel (int. dims. 5m N-S; 7.1m E-W) church (dims 6.1m N-S;17.2m E-W) survive with a very overgrown cross-wall. A gap (Wth 0.8m) at the W end of the S wall indicates a possible entrance. A small separate plot enclosed by a stone wall has been built at the W end of the church containing the vault of the Lidwell family. The interior has a very undulating surface with a lot of ground disturbance. The headstones in the graveyard all appear to be of nineteenth and twentieth-century date. Portion of a curving enclosure appears immediately W of the church and graveyard on an aerial photograph taken in 1973 (GSIAP, S 43/42). This enclosure is less convincing on the ground although there is a broad rise which may be the remains of a levelled bank (Wth c. 8m; ext. H 0.6m). At the S end of this possible bank there is an external dip (Wth c. 3m) which suggests an outer fosse. The graveyard is on a natural ridge which extends W of the graveyard and terminates naturally before it reaches this possible bank. It seems likely that the limit of this natural ridge would have been utilised unless a much larger enclosure was required. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008