Anatrim Church (in Ruins) — Anatrim

Reputedly the site of an early foundation established by St Mochaemhog in the late sixth century. A much-modified long rectangular late medieval parish church, largely rebuilt in the eighteenth century, with a sacristy formerly adjoining its NE end, and a belfry added to W end at a later date. The church (int. dims. 16.9m E-W, 6.7m N-S ; wall T 0.78m) is constructed of randomly coursed sandstone rubble, rendered with plaster internally. The original entrance (dims. 2.15m x 1.15m) at W end of N wall was blocked up, together with a rectangular ope at E end of same wall, during rebuilding. Three rectangular windows visible in corresponding S wall. The E gable contains a central round-headed window flanked by two long narrow rectangular lights, this arrangement having replaced the earlier traceried E window, three sidestones of which are incorporated into the later window base. A further three fragments of it are visible in graveyard S of church. Two large mid-eighteenth-century memorials are incorporated into W end of S wall and E end of N wall respectively. A barrel-vaulted sacristy (original ext. dims. 9m N-S, 7.18m E-W, int. H 2.75m), aligned N-S, is at right angle to E end of N wall of church. Constructed of randomly coursed small flat pieces of sandstone, it is rendered with plaster internally. Blocked rectangular light in E wall. The sacristy was detached from N wall of church, reduced in size (present int. dims. 6m x 4.15m) and modified for use as the mausoleum of Sharp of Roundwood and Flood of Middlemount in the early nineteenth century. A square belfry (int. dims. 4.3m x 4.3m, wall T 0.6m) was added on to W end of church, perhaps in the eighteenth century, and was accomodated by breaching W gable wall. Two halves of two separate quernstones and late medieval architectural fragments, including three moulded jambstones and a window sidestone, were found in the graveyard. St Kaban's Well (LA016-016002-) lies 130m to NNW. Area adjacent to graveyard was archaeologically tested by Ellen O'Carroll in 2003 under excavation licence no. 03E1706. Area around church and graveyard was investigated by Dominic Delaney in 2000 under excavation licence no. 00E0785. Test excavation was carried out at the site of a proposed dwelling on 21 October 2000. The site lies within the area of archaeological constraint around an ecclesiastical site comprising a church (LA016-016003-), a graveyard (LA016-016004-), a holy well (LA016-016002-), an incised stone (LA016-016001-) and a settlement. The proposed dwelling site is centrally located between the church/graveyard and the holy well and lies c. 60m distant from each monument. Four test-trenches were excavated on the footprint of the development. The results of testing suggest that there was some industrial activity in this area, but the findings were inconclusive in that the origin and nature of this activity were not clearly established. There was some evidence of burning across the tested area, but the deposits, some of which were over 0.5m thick, were sterile apart from moderate charcoal inclusions. The discovery of occasional burnt stones and fused matter (sand, stone and slag) suggests that some intense burning took place in the vicinity of the tested area. However, the only feature of possible archaeological significance was a curvilinear feature, 2m wide, which was encountered at the junction of Trenches 1 and 2. A section through this feature revealed that it was quite shallow, 0.2m deep, and no clearly defined cut was identified. The finds comprised occasional lumps of slag and animal bone fragments. Heat-fractured stones were present in the upper fill, but the loose nature of this fill and the presence of rounded cobbles may indicate a post-medieval/modern date for this feature. Finds from the topsoil comprised two modern delftware sherds and a sherd of post-medieval/early modern stoneware jar. Further monitoring was recommended (Bennett 2002, 186). In 2003 five test-trenches were excavated (Nat. Grid Ref. 2295; 1912) by Ellen OCarroll of the Archaeology Company under licence number 03E1706 at a proposed development at Coolrane, Anatrim. No traces of archaeological remains were found within the trenches (Bennett 2006, 281-2). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007