Outlined — Loughanes

The 18th century C. of I. church ruins at Lisselton (Lios Eiltín) in the townland of Loughanes, in the parish of Lisselton, diocese of Ardfert, barony of Iraghticonnor was probably built on the site of the medieval parish church and stands on the NE edge of a polygonal shaped graveyard. The 1302-06 Ecclesiastical Taxation of the Diocese of Ardfert valued the church of 'Liseltyn' at 26s. 8d. per annum with the tithe valued at 2s. 8d. (Cal. doc. Ire.. Vol. 5, 296). Lisselton church ruins (KE005-066----) and graveyard were surveyed in 2010 and described as follows; 'Two areas of glebe lands associated with the vicarage are denoted on the 1841 Ed. OSi six-inch map, the smaller of the two virtually abuts the Children’s Burial Ground (KE005-067----) to the south while the larger glebe, comprising two fields is located to the west. The western tower or belfry of a late 18th century First Fruits Church of Ireland is all that survives of this edifice. The remains of the church in the graveyard (see below) essentially comprise the tower of a Church of Ireland of First Fruits built in 1789. However, there are no relict remains of the earlier edifice at the site and the earliest inscribed grave markers reflect this late 18th century date as well. Entry into the graveyard is gained through a single modern wrought iron black painted gate at the eastern limits of the graveyard. The gate, which is in good order, is set between two taller square piers of ashlar stone. Able-bodied pedestrian access is also provided for by a three stone stepped-stile accommodated in the boundary wall beside the gate. Both gate and stile are in excellent condition. Boundary walls, 1.25m high internally, are constructed with rubble stone built to courses and bedded in mortar and capped with ‘soldiers’ and are in excellent condition. An archaeological artefact comprising a rotary quern stone has been built into the western boundary wall beside a name plaque. Its original provenance has not been established. Seven named tombs (159, 164, 174, 179, 184, 199 and 209) were recorded in varying states of preservation. Five unnamed tombs (169, 188, 189, 198 & 204) were recorded in various states of preservation. A total of 115 inscribed headstones (HN) were recorded in Lisselton graveyard. The oldest recorded headstone recorded in the course of this survey, No. 98 was J.. Murphy dated to 1799. There were 126 unnamed headstones (HWN) in total recorded in the course of this survey. Thirty eight were recorded within the graveyard while the majority, eighty-eight were mapped within the Children’s Burial Ground (KE005-067----) across the stream. The majority of the unnamed graves mainly comprise unhewn stones although a few are simple iron crosses from which the engraving or name plate has disappeared' (Dunne 2010). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne Date of upload: 14 September 2022