Church in Ruins — Philipstown (ardee By., Philipstown Par.)

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 Undivided nave and chancel (max. ext. dims. 14m by 7m, T c. 0.9m) built of uncoursed rubble and greywacke. The W end of the nave, that is the area to the W of the S doorway, is filled to a height of c. 1.3m with clay which is retained by a modern cross-wall. The church has one doorway and two remaining windows. The window in the E end of the S wall is a single light with punch-dressed limestone. One large stone acts as a rounded arch and there are two jamb stones on either side with one glazing bar hole in each. All that remains of the E window is the embrasure. The doorway is situated in the W half of the S wall and is constructed of punch-dressed limestone. It has a reveal at each side, is slightly splayed and has no evidence for the remains of the arch. On the inner face of the S wall, just to the E of the doorway, there is a punch-dressed stoup with a well-carved human face on one side. A large truncated cone-shaped font is inserted in the modern cross-wall of the nave. It is roughly square in plan with rounded corners. The graveyard and church have been recently cleaned up and lines of plain gravestones all around the building have been exposed. The church is almost certainly of fifteenth- or sixteenth-century date because of the type of dressing on the limestone in the doorway and window frame. (CLAJ 1943, 208)