Church in Kilgarvan

In a graveyard (MA040-031002). There is no visible trace of the church. The 1838 OS Letters recorded that ‘the church has been destroyed’, but according to tradition it was located in the NE corner of the graveyard, and a tomb erected in 1836 by Howley of Belleek Castle ‘is said to stand where the old church was' (O’Flanagan 1927, 108). A structure or building, with an E-W axis, is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map in the N of the graveyard; it is not marked as a church, and may represent the Howley tomb. The tomb, dated 1836, and dedicated to the wife of Edward Howley esq., of Belleek Castle, is enclosed by a wall of cut limestone, surmounted by wrought-iron railings. Appended to it E side is another rectangular grave enclosure (7m N–S; 3.4m E–W) defined by a mortared wall of stone rubble. The S wall is of stone and brick, and incorporates a gate. The N wall (L 3.4m; Wth 0.6m; int. H 2m; ext. H 1.5m) is of mortared, roughly coursed rounded boulders and horizontally laid stones. The E wall has collapsed to a low jumble of stone. It is possible that this grave enclosure reused stone from, or incorporated remnants of the church, but there is no definitive evidence of this. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 15 May 2020