Monastery (in ruins) — Pollboy

In marshy farmland close to SE limits of Ballinasloe town, the church now stands on E bank of the Grand Canal, 400m W of the River Suck. Known locally as 'The Teampoilin' (Egan 1960, 25-6), and said to have been a cell of Clontuskert Abbey (GA088-001----) but Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 368) doubt this. The standing remains comprise a much-overgrown medieval church (E-W; L 16.1m, Wth 6.6m) in fair condition. While a large section of N wall has been replaced by a modern concrete one, the other walls appear to survive to their original height. They are built on a plinth of large stones with a marked base-batter. Egan (ibid.) noted the presence of 'corbel stones project[ing] from the four corners of the gables', but these were obscured by ivy at the time of visit. The original doorway, a tall narrow affair with a pointed arch, is situated towards W end of S wall. There is a single-light flat-headed window, two aumbries and a possible sedilia (ibid.) in this wall, and a twin-light ogee-headed window flanked by two aumbries in E gable. Traces of a window are also visible towards E end of N wall. Three pairs of beam slots in the upper parts of N and S walls at W end of the church, indicate the former presence of a loft. According to Egan (ibid., 26), this was lit by 'two small rectangular lights' high up on N and S walls but no visible trace of these was noted. Apart from a CBG (GA088-020002-) located in the interior, there is no trace of any graveyard or enclosing wall but the church is delimited by a scarp from S through W to N. There is a tradition of a togher (GA088-014----) running from here to Clontuskert Abbey. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 1, 530-31) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Galway Vol. II - North Galway'. Compiled by Olive Alcock, Kathy de hÓra and Paul Gosling (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). Date of upload: 05 August 2010