Ruins — Monasterboice

The North Church is a simple rectangular building (int. dims 10.4m E-W; 4.1m N-S) of greywacke with some very large blocks of stone close to the wall footings. It has the remains of two doorways and four windows, two in each of the side walls. The S doorway has only two jamb stones remaining at each side. They are of chamfered grey sandstone. There are bolt-holes at each side of the doorway. The W doorway has a two-centred arch of chamfered sandstone blocks having two stones at each side. The four windows have single lights framed with grey sandstone and are revealed on the outside for movable wooden shutters. There is a small recess or aumbry with a round-headed arch at the E end of the S wall. The style of the windows with rebates for shutters suggests a thirteenth-century date for this church. It may have replaced an earlier shrine church dedicated to St. Buíthe and may have housed the head of the saint, which was stolen in the sixteenth century (Ó Riain 201, 131-3). This is a National Monument, in state ownership: No. 94. The above description is derived from 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. See the attached view from SW Revised by Con Manning Date of revision: 11 May 2016