Abbey in Ruins — Turlough (carra By.)

In a graveyard (MA088-144008-) prominently sited on the top of a small hill. The church and adjacent round tower (MA088-144002-) occupy almost the full available space on the hill summit, and immediately to E and S a steep long slope falls to the Castlebar River. The location provides extensive views SE−S over the river valley and surrounding rolling pastureland. It is overlooked to N by a higher ridge, on top of which is a rath (MA070-143----) located 80m to NW. There is a holy well (MA070-145----) 75m to NNE. This church is indicated as ‘Abbey in Ruins’ on the 1838 and 1920 OS 6-inch maps. It stands on the site of an early medieval monastery, which, according to tradition, was founded by St. Patrick; it was under the jurisdiction of the archbishopric of Armagh until at least the early 13th century (Gwynne and Hadcock 1970, 408). The Annals of Loch Cé record that it was plundered in 1236 by MacWilliam (Burke) (Hennessy 1871). The round tower is the only structure to survive from the early medieval period. The present roofless church is late in date: While it may retain remnants of a medieval church in its masonry fabric, it appears to be largely 17th-century in date, with evidence of refurbishment/restoration in the 18th and 19th-centuries. It is a National Monument in state ownership (No. 100). The building (int. 19.2m E−W; 7m N−S), constructed of roughly coursed mortared rubble, is cruciform in plan. The entrance is in the centre of the W wall, opening into the nave, and a semicircular apse at the E end defines the chancel. Three tall round-arched windows grace the apse, and three similar windows light the nave, two in the N wall one and one at the W end of the S wall; these windows appear to have been inserted in the 18th-century or early 19th century. The N and S transepts, which are accessed through broad round-arched openings, are lit by 17th-century mullioned windows. A plain arch (Wth 2.53m; H 2.6m; D 0.86m) opens into the N transept (4.8m E−W; c. 6m N−S). At ground floor level there are two square mullioned windows: the four-light window in the centre of the E wall is intact and has a square hood-moulding on its exterior; the window in the centre of the N wall is now missing its mullion. The upper storey has two flat-lintelled rectangular windows in the E wall and one at the S end of the W wall. The S transept archway (Wth 2.84m; H 2.66m; D 0.96m) has a moulded surround, with punch dressing on the inner face; it is now fitted with an iron gate, and access to the transept is not possible. The upper storey is lit by a pair of square windows in the E wall, and a matching pair in the W wall. At ground floor level, there is a round-arched window in the S wall. In the centre of the W wall is an intact late 16th-or early17th-century four-light mullioned window, with heavily punch-dresses cut limestone frame, topped on the exterior by square hood-moulding with stepped ends. A triangular-shaped stone crowns the centre of the hood moulding. The two stones flanking either side of the stepped ends of the hood-moulding are each ornamented with a small decorative roundel, with a central rosette and a segmented outer ring. There are four tombs in the S transept. A table tomb stands against the S wall beneath the window. A table tomb and two box tombs stand on a low rectangular platform or plinth, which spans the E−W width of the transept; one of the box tombs is located at the E end of the plinth and is inserted into a shallow recess in the E wall of the transept. The flat arch of this recess is formed of four rows of contiguously-set punch-dressed limestone blocks. The punch dressing is 17th-centry in style, featuring diagonal crosses, and triangular and lozenge-shaped patterns. The stones are not of uniform size and appear rather haphazardly mortared in place; they were most likely salvaged from another building and reused here. To E of this large recess, a fragment of an inscribed graveslslab (MA088-144003-) is displayed in a shallow square recess in the wall. A polygonal cut-stone stoup projects from the N wall of the transept, immediately to E of the archway. It has central circular hollow to hold the holy water, and a faceted sloping base. It is likely to be late 16th- or 17th-century in date. The interior of the church now has a gravel surface, and set in this are several rectangular graveslabs, 19th-century dates are legible on some but the inscriptions on the majority are entirely eroded. There are also several headstones of late 19th- and early 20th-century date. A crucifixion plaque (MA088-144007-) is displayed in the exterior wall face above plain flat-headed doorway in the W wall of the church, and another crucifixion plaque (MA088-144006-) is inserted into the exterior face of the W wall of the S transept. A low stepped stone plinth or offset projects from beneath the SW angle of church, and a rough base batter is evident in parts along the exterior of the N wall of the nave. A neater base batter is evident on the N wall of the N transept and the walls of the S transept. The church is built so close to the round tower that the W wall of the S transept almost abuts it. Two architectural fragments, a fragment of an early medieval round arched window head and a sandstone block with foliate ornamentation, probably of late 12th- or early 13th-century date, have been noted here, and are the only evidence of an earlier church that was replaced by the current building (Higgins 1997, 67-68). Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 15 December 2020