Church (in ruins) — Dunnaman

In grassland, 370m NE of Dunnaman Castle (LI030-012----). The church of Villa Trostany which had a vicar belonging to the Rectory of Croom which is mentioned in the Black Book [Liber Niger] of Limerick. In the Royal Visitation of 1615 the church is described as 'Trustanny alias Dunaman, residens, ad rectoriam de Croom'. According to local tradition the church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and was called 'Teampull na Trionoid' (Dunraven 1865, 203). Present remains consist of an ivy-covered nave and chancel church of late twelfth or early 13th century day with opposing round-headed cut stone doorways at W end of nave. The main doorway into the church was the wider segmental-headed doorway at W end of S wall of nave and was constructed with sandstone ashlar masonry. The narrower N doorway directly opposite was also constructed with similar masonry. Directly inside the S doorway to the E are the remains of a cut stone stoup projecting out from the face of the wall. The remains of a hanging eye are visible on the W side of the doorway. The nave was lit by a single light window set into segmental arched embrasures at the E end of the N and S walls adjacent to the poorly preserved remains of a large chancel arch. The broken out E window is now covered in ivy making examination impossible. A broken out window is visible located off centre to E in the N wall of the nave. A row of corbels supporting a first floor is visible at W end of nave which probably represents the remains of a priest residence. There is no window in the ground floor of the W gable. A single light window now covered in ivy is located at first floor level in W gable. The pointed chancel arch is now covered in ivy and several of the archstones have fallen out. The chancel was lit by two windows in the S wall, the window located off centre to W is now destroyed by a tree growing out of it. The window at the E end of the S wall consists of a single light pointed window set into a round headed window embrasure constructed with sandstone ashlar masonry. A wall cupboard or aumbry can be seen immediately E of this window. A second aumbry is visible off centre to S in the E wall of the chancel. A single light window now covered in ivy was visible in the E end of the N wall of the chancel. Church described in 1865 as following; ‘this little Church, which consists of a nave and chancel; the dimensions of the nave internally are 43 ft. [13.1m] by 21 ft. [6.4m]; those of the chancel 23 ft. [7m] by 16 ft. [4.9m]. The walls are of rough masonry of rounded or boulder stones, there being apparently no quarried stone employed in the building, except quoins, or those in the doors or windows, which are of nicely dressed sandstone. The doors are segmental arched, inside and outside. The external jamb of the north door is 2 ft. 5 in. [0.74m] wide at the springing of the arch, and 2 ft. 7 in. [0.79m] at the bottom; the dimensions of the corresponding internal jamb are 3 ft. 1 in. [0.94m], and 3 ft. 4 in. [1m]. The south door is quite similar, but larger. The windows are deeply splayed, and very small. Those in the nave have circular heads, and the splay arches are pointed; while those in the chancel are pointed, with the splay arches circular. In Plate XXX, a sketch is given of one of the chancel windows, the height of which is 2 ft. 3 in. [0.67m]. The others are of about the same size, except the east window, which is 4 ft. 2 in. [1.27m] high. The jambs of the windows as well as of the doors, slightly incline. There is one window in the chancel of later date, and much ruder workmanship — of limestone. The sills of the nave windows are from 7 to 8 ft. [2.13-2.43m] above the ground; those in the chancel are much lower. The chancel-arch was pointed, and had dressings of the same sandstone as the windows, without either mouldings or chamfers. There are two square recesses for aumbries. The old quadrangular font [LI021-081003-] remains: externally it is 2 ft. [0.6m] square; internally, its depth is 8 in. [0.2m]. Between the doors and the west end of the nave, are corbels for supporting a floor, somewhat similar to those already described in the small Church at Adare, and, as there, indicating the existence of a room or residence for the priest. From the mixture of round and pointed arches, the date of this Church would, in England, be fixed at about the latter part of the twelfth century, but it may be rather later in Ireland’ (Dunraven 1865-203-4). Westropp (1904-5, 384) recorded the following details on Dunnaman; ‘John Maunsell held Cresdire, Kilgubban, Drastenagh, and Caberas, 1298 (Plea R. 40 of xxvii Ed. I., m. 106, and 44 of same, m. 10); Dunnemeaunn, Rustainy, or Ballythristan, 1410; Ecc. Ville Trostanii, 1418; Dunnambeann, 1562 (A.F.M.). The name is derived from the Thurstan, or Trostan, family: see Croom, 1323. Fabric - "Teampul na Trionoid," locally, has a nave and chancel 43 feet [13.1m] by 21 feet [6.4m], and 23 feet [7m] by 16 feet [4.87m], of rough masonry, with segmental-arched doors in the sides. The chancel arch is pointed, corbels for a gallery at west end of nave. The windows have round-headed splays and pointed lights. There is a sheela-na-gig [LI030-012001-] set in the neighbouring castle [LI030-012----]'. Westropp (1916, 81) suggested that this building was a small late Gothic church probably dating from the late 15th century. Earthworks visible on Digital Globe aerial photographs in field immediately to N, E and S appear to represent the remains of an earlier ecclesiastical enclosure (LI021-081004-). See attached plan of church taken from Dunraven 1865, Plate XXX. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 28 December 2018