Church in ruins — Farraneglish Glebe

According to Carrigan the townland name Farraneglish means Land of the Church or Church Land that was the glebe land of the rectory of Aghaboe (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 55). This was a chapel of ease to Aghaboe parish church in medieval times (ibid., 55). According to Ledwich (1796, 90) this church was dependent on the monastery of Aghaboe (LA022-019001-) and was called 'Teampul na Cailleachdubh, or church of the black women', based on the black colour of their clothes. The church is locally dedicated to St. Brigid. This church is depicted standing in the glebe land of 'Farranaglish' which consisted of 64 acres of arable and meadow land on the 1654 Down Survey parish map of Aghaboe (NLI p.7383). Situated in a low-lying area, immediately N of roadway. The church is incorrectly marked, to S of road, on the 1909 ed. OS 6-inch map and on the 25-inch OS map. This church was described by Carrigan in 1905 as a 'large roomy church, too, being more than 48 ft. (14.6m) long. The north side-wall and west gable yet remain to about half their original height, the other walls are gone. In the north wall, 7 feet (2.1m) from the west gable, is a narrow loop of chiselled stone, chamfered, such as is found in other ancient churches to give light to a gallery stairs. East of this is a cut-stone gothic door, 5 ft. (1.5m) high and only 23½ in. (0.6m) wide' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 55). Present remains consist of a rectangular late medieval church (ext. dims. dims. 14m x 6.6m; wall T 0.7m), aligned NW-SE, composed of coursed limestone rubble with evidence of a plinth running along the base of the wall. The building is difficult to examine due to the dense cover of ivy on the walls and the interior of the church has been used as a dumping area. Upstanding remains include S wall (ext. H 1.1m) which forms N line of roadway. This wall was clipped at SE end during construction of roadway. The W gable (ext. H 3.8m), and N wall (ext. H 2.4m) are the best preserved with evidence of pronounced base-batter. The remains of a broken out doorway(Wth 1m) described by Carrigan can be seen in the centre of the N wall with the remains of a flat-headed narrow slit ope at W end of the N wall close to the NW angle of the church. According to Carrigan this window provided light for a gallery stairs, alternatively it may have been associated with a priests residence located at the W end of the church. The W gable is now covered in ivy especially the internal face which cannot be examined due to the cover of vegetation. No visible remains survive of the E gable. The interior of the church is full of collapsed masonry and trees making it impossible to examine the interior of the building. The remains of a dressed and chamfered stone possibly belonging to the head of the medieval doorway lies on the ground at the base of the N wall. This punch dressed chamfered stone measures 0.21m x 0.22. Architectural fragments visible at base of N wall and within field boundary wall to SE. According to local information, there was a graveyard in the field known as 'the Church Field', to N of church. Large quantities of human bones were uncovered here, during ploughing in the 1950s. The graveyard (LA023-029001) was levelled in 1845 (ibid., 55). 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: 15 July 2013