Church (in Ruins) — Castletown (dundalk Upper By.)

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Situated on prominent ground close to motte (LH007-118007-) and tower house (LH007-118001-). Undivided nave and chancel (max. dims. c. 23m E-W, c. 6.5m N-S), but holes in N and S walls might be evidence for a rood screen. Built of uncoursed limestone boulders and greywacke. S wall, much renovated and repointed with concrete, contains the remains of three windows and a gap at its W end where the original doorway may have been. Window at E end of S wall has rounded two-centred arch of punch-dressed limestone on exterior. The jambs of the embrasure are constructed of sandstone blocks, some of which have been moulded. This is the only complete window in the S or N walls. There are four in the N wall, crudely repaired with concrete. Most have the remains of crude moulded sandstone jambs, are splayed and have lintels with flattened arches of greywacke over. E window has sandstone blocks and boulders for inner jambs with a flattened arch of greywacke and central keystone. The remaining lower jambs on exterior are of punch-dressed limestone and contain glazing bar holes and grooves. Small recess or cubby-hole directly under E jamb of centre window in S wall and a further one under the easternmost window; both are constructed with greywacke blocks and slabs. The standing remains are undoubtedly fifteenth- or sixteenth-century in date because of punch-dressed limestone window frames. The chancel contains two seventeenth-century tombs (LH007-118004-). (CLAJ 1941, 14-15)