Church (in ruins) — Grove (shillelogher By.)

The medieval church, orientated E-W, occupies the N portion of the graveyard (KK023-030002-). The church is indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Sheelogher/‘Sheelelogher’ (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 385) this was the parish church of Tullaghanbroge, though now referred to as Grove. It is described in the OS Letters (1839) as consisting of, ‘the west and east gables; the latter down to the height of the side walls; the south wall entire and the north wall separated by large breaches from both ends. The doorway is marked by a breach in the south wall eighteen feet [c. 5.5m] from the west end. There are two broken windows in the south side and one in the east gable. It measures sixty four feet [19.5m] by twenty and a half [c. 6m]; the walls built of large square stones laid in regular courses’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 281-2 (95)). Carrigan (ibid.) refers to the mensa of a chest-tomb (KK023-030003-) within the church and a coffin-shaped graveslab (KK023-030004-) outside the church. See attached: KK023-030001-_01 Extract from Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Sheelogher/‘Sheelelogher’ (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 28 July 2021