Kiltullagh Church — Kiltullagh

The parish church of Kiltullagh is listed as Keltullagh in the ecclesiastical taxation of Tuam diocese in 1306 (Cal. doc. Ire., vol. 5, 228) and is unlikely ever to have been a Franciscan friary (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 279). It is situated at the crest of a severe SE-facing slope of Kiltullagh Hill overlooking a valley to the E and S, and with higher ground to the NW. The church is a rectangular structure (int. dims 16.5m ENE-WSW; 6.5m NNW-SSE) of which only the E and S (H 3.2m) walls survive complete together with the foundations of the other walls (T 0.9m). A pointed doorway (Wth 1.38m; H 2.3m) with a hanging eye on the W side is situated towards the W end of the S wall, while a rectangular light is towards its E end. A round-headed window (Wth 0.18m; H 1.08m) is not centrally placed in the E gable which has an aumbry at its S side. The church is within a rectangular graveyard (RO032-002002-) (dims 58m NE-SW; 38m NW-SE) defined by masonry walls. John O'Donovan writing c. 1837 recorded two round stones (RO032-002005-; RO032-002006-) on the graves of priests (O'Flanagan 1931 vol. 1, 65) but these are no longer present. The W angle of the graveyard overlies a raised platform partly outside the graveyard, which on excavation (00E0322) revealed the walls (T 1.2m; H 1-1.5m) of a building (RO032-002007-) (ext. dims 18m E-W; 7.5m N-S) which may have been an earlier church (Gregory 2002). Field system (RO032-002004-) surrounds the graveyard. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 24 August 2010