Dromod Church (in Ruins) — Sallahig

Dromod Church: The remains of this parish church stand in a graveyard located NW of Coomduff ridge, a short distance S of the Inny river. 'Drumad' church was included in the Papal Taxation List (1302-06) for the diocese of Ardfert (Cal Docs Ire, V, 298). It was noted in 1615 as the 'vicaradge of Dromeron' (Royal Visitation). In 1633 it was referred to as 'Teampull Dromid' by Bishop Steere, who reported that its incumbent minister was Donell ffanning whose 'wyfe cometh not to churche' (Hickson 1891, 47). It was in ruins by the middle of the eighteenth century (Smith 1756, 70). The church is rectangular in plan, measuring 18.3m x 5.8m internally. Its ivy-covered walls stand to an average height of 2.6m and are 1.1m thick. They are built of coursed rubble with roughly dressed quoins, and are bonded in a lime and gravel mortar. A 5m stretch of the N wall appears to have been rebuilt. The E gable is lit by a narrow rectangular window, only the lower portion of which is preserved. It was formed in a 'very rude style of hammered stones', and measured four feet nine inches (1.45m) high (OSL). A lintelled niche is located at the S end of this gable, and a large pile of stone collapse abuts its base. Close to the E end of the S wall is a flat-headed window, 1.2m high, set in a rear lintelled embrasure with splayed ingoings. Similar windows occur at both ends of the N wall, each of them featuring jambs of thinly sectioned slate slabs. The window at the W end measures only .45m high. The pointed doorway in the S wall is formed of neatly coursed jambs and an arch of pitched slate slabs with a sandstone keystone. A drawbar socket is retained in the E ingoing of the rear lintelled embrasure. The W gable bulges inwards, and a large amount of collapse has accumulated at its base. Numerous graves occupy the overgrown interior of the church. The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 1097. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 31 July 2013