Church (in ruins) — Foulkscourt

On a slightly rising area above the River Goul flood plain, in rolling grassland. There is no associated graveyard, though burials (KK008-090002-) were recorded within the church (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 300). A tower house (KK008-087----), Foulkscourt Castle, is located c. 730m to the NW. According to Moore (1874-9, vol. 1, 37-8) Foulkscourt church, ‘seems to have been built for the use of the Castellan of the Castle of that name and his retainers about the year 1460 or so’. A rectangular church (ext. dims. 20.8m E-W, 9.7m N-S), orientated E-W, built of roughly coursed limestone rubble with a slight external base-batter (H of side walls c. 3m; H of gable c. 6m). There are two doorways, one a pointed doorway (Wth 1.4m) with punch-dressed tooling towards the W end of the N wall (T 0.95m) and the other roughly opposite in the S wall. That in the S wall had been broken out by 1839 when it is described in the OS Letters (O’Flanagan ed. 1930, vol. 1, 149 (49)) as a breach. This was subsequently blocked-up and forms an internal recess (Wth 2.1m). According to Moore (ibid.), both doorways ‘are totally removed for the sake of the cut stone’. The church was lit by two single-light windows in the N wall, one at either end of the wall, and two opposing windows in the S wall. The single-light windows at the E end are both ogee-headed with an external square hood-moulding according to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 300), though only the head of the one in the S wall survives. Those at the W end of the church are narrow flat-headed windows. There is a two-light ogee-headed window with external square hood-moulding in the E gable. On the internal face of the W gable there is a ledge which probably supported a gallery. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 16 January 2018