Coole Abbey (in Ruins) — Coole Upper

In the centre of a graveyard (CO036-01903-). The ruins of the parish church of Coole consist of a nave (int. 10.7m E-W; 7.5m N-S) and chancel (int. 6.6m E-W; 5.6m N-S). According to the Ordnance Survey Field Books the church was associated with the Knights Templar but Power (1919, 53-4) found no evidence to support this and it is not listed by Gwynn and Hadcock (1988). It is associated with an early foundation by St Abban, a 5th or 6th-century saint, as is a second ruined church (CO036-01902-) 150m to the SSW. They were both located within the grounds of an 18th-century country house (CO036-019001-), as is a holy well (CO036-019005-). The nave contains the core of a Romanesque church with antae; the chancel was added, probably in the 13th century (O’Keeffe 1994, 134). By 1615 the nave was in ruins but the chancel was in repair (Power ibid, 51); the entire church was in ruins by 1694 (Brady 1863 vol. 2, 171) and probably never subsequently repaired. The N and S walls of the nave are poorly preserved and the W wall shows much evidence of rebuilding. The antae is preserved/rebuilt at the W end of the N wall (to H c. 3m) of the nave and Power's plan (Power ibid, 50) shows antae at the E end of the N and S walls, now ruinous. In the centre of the W wall the lowest jambs of the door are preserved with broad roll moulding (the wall is rebuilt from this level upwards). A window was inserted in the W wall, now much ruined, though it appears to have been ogee-headed. There is no trace of antae at the W end of the S wall but this corner is much rebuilt. There is a doorway inserted near the W end of the S wall of which only the sides survive (the porch shown outside this on Power's plan is all but gone). The chancel is an addition; the side walls abut the E wall of the earlier structure, just inside the projecting antae. A pointed chancel arch (Wth 1.95m) was inserted in place of the original E window; the arch is framed by a shallow rectangular projection on both wall faces. A similar projection frames the narrow lintelled doorway (Wth 0.56m) near the W end of the S wall in the chancel, which has a pointed arch with external chamfer. The single-light slit window in the S wall is missing its W side. There are ruinous wall-presses opposite each other near the E ends of the N and S walls. The central E window is an ogee-headed two-light, a late medieval insertion with a lintelled embrasure (the rear lintel is gone), and the central mullion missing. A noticeable base batter on the E wall of the chancel was probably built in response to falling ground level. Surviving walls are in poor structural state. High up on the E gable is a rosette carved in relief, with parallels at Cormac's Chapel, Cashel, and St Cronan's, Roscrea, as noted by O'Keeffe (ibid, 132 & 134), who suggests a date of c. 1130 for it. According to O’Keeffe ‘it is clearly not in original position but is one of a number of architectural fragments incorporated in the wall’. Other fragments, Romanesque in style, can be seen in the internal face of the W gable and within the remains of the N wall (see photographs attached). This is a National Monument in State Guardianship (no. 395). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 2: East and South Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1994). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Photographs attached CO036-019004-_01: View of the remains from NE. CO036-019004-_02: View of the remains from S. CO036-019004-_03: View of nave, from NW. CO036-019004-_04: View of W gable, from W. CO036-019004-_05: Romanesque door jamb with roll moulding, W wall. CO036-019004-_06: Inscribed stone, N wall of nave, from E. CO036-019004-_07: Architectural fragment affixed on the N wall of nave, from E. CO036-019004-_08: Architectural fragment inserted within W wall of nave, from E. CO036-019004-_09: Architectural fragment on top of N wall of nave, from N. CO036-019004-_10: Architectural fragments inserted within W wall of nave, from E. CO036-019004-_11: E wall of nave from W, with chancel arch centrally placed. CO036-019004-_12: Doorway in S wall of chancel, from S. CO036-019004-_13: E window in chancel, from W. CO036-019004-_14: Romanesque carving of rosette, inserted in the external face of the chancel’s E gable, from E. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 Date of last revision: 17 August 2023