St Columbkilles Church (in ruins) — Glencolumbkille South

Situated in the NW corner of an enclosed graveyard (CL010-038003-) in the S centre of an ecclesiastical enclosure (CL010-038001-). Indicated and named ‘St Columbkille’s Church (in ruins)’ on the 1842 and 1920 OS 6-inch map. Described in the OS Letter of 1839 as ‘about five centuries old’ and ‘all destroyed except the east gable and south wall’ (Comber 1997, 34). Westropp (1913, 249) maintained that the church was originally late 11th or early 12th century in date, with a (non-extant) 15th-century Gothic pointed door inserted in the S wall, and part of this wall rebuilt in ‘modern times’. He also noted projecting handle-stones in the E gable and the ‘upper half of a conical quern of sandstone’ (diam. 0.33m; H 0.18m) outside the NW corner (ibid., 249-50). The latter is no longer visible (Swinfen 1992, 123). The upstanding remains of this church (12.73m E-W; 6.55m N-S (dims. from Swinfen 1992)) consist of the heavily pointed E gable and short adjoining stretches (L c. 4m) of the N and S walls (Wth of walls 0.69-0.76m). The outer face of the E wall is built of coursed, fairly large regular undressed blocks. It incorporates a window comprising a light (Wth 0.3m; min. H 1.6m) which is broken at the S but with well-dressed stones along its base and N side, and a wide, well-built embrasure (max. Wth 1.6m; H at S 2.2m) of which the base is broken and not original, and the head and north jamb are missing. Swinfen (ibid.) suggested that this window may have been reset in the 15th century as part of the same renovation works that included the aforementioned (non-extant) pointed door described in the OS Letters (Comber 1997, 34). The stonework on the outer wall-face around the window is rough and comprises smaller stones. Only one of the handle-stones or projecting corbels noted by Westropp (1913, 249) survives, at the NE corner. The N wall decreases in height from the E and a break (Wth 1.8m) in the wall is covered by loose stones. The remainder of this wall line has been overlaid by the later wall of the enclosing graveyard (CL010-038003-). The E end of the S wall buckles slightly, while a scarp (H 0.25-0.4m) probably follows the line of the W end. The original W wall does not survive; its current outer face is formed by the graveyard (CL010-038003-) wall, while its ivy-covered inner face is poorly made and more modern than the E gable. Within the church interior there is fine dressed stonework in the NE and SE corners. There is a tomb in each of these corners, that in the SE belonging to the O’Brien family and dating to 1800 or soon after (see Comber 1997, 35). There are grave-slabs, grave-markers and headstones throughout the rest of the interior. Near the centre is the side of a door jamb (H 0.4m; Wth 0.38m; T 0.29m), used as a grave-marker. There is another railed grave against the S exterior of the E wall, on which a commemorative plaque is affixed. Compiled by: Mary Tunney and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 5 April 2023