Church (in Ruins) — Dunamon

Listed as Inigan in the ecclesiastical taxation of Elphin in 1306 (Cal. doc. Ire., vol. 5, 224), and marked on Petty's map of 1683. This is probably the site of the parish church of Donamon with Donamon Castle fortified house (RO038-010002-) c. 170m to the W. The present church was built by Caulfields as a chapel, probably at the beginning of 18th century. A new Church of Ireland church serving Fuerty and Dunamon was built in 1854, and is located c. 900m to the WSW. Eleven wall memorials, dating from 1747-1789, were moved to the new church from here (Taylor 1892-4b). It is situated on a WNW-ESE ridge on the S bank of a W-E section of the River Suck, c. 140m from its S bank. This is a rectangular structure (ext. dims 18.5m E-W; 8.4m N-S) surviving complete (H 3m) with an external render and limestone quoins. A round-headed doorway (Wth 0.96m; H 1.9m) with an external chamfer in the W wall has a large round-headed window above, but the belfry is obscured by ivy. The vestibule (int. dim. 3.25m E-W) inside the doorway is separated from the church by an inserted wall and is lit by a small rectangular window in the S wall, while three flights of stone steps against the E, N and W walls led to the gallery. A second lintelled doorway (Wth 0.6m) in the S wall also provided access to the vestibule. In the church there are two round-headed windows in the S wall and one in the N, which is now blocked by an inserted fireplace, while a similar fireplace in the S wall is also inserted. There is a large round-headed E window, while two buttresses support the S wall, and one the N. Brick is only used on secondary features. The church is within a rectangular graveyard (RO038-011002-) (dims 48m N-S; 43m E-W) defined by masonry walls, but a curving scarp S of the church could indicate an older enclosure. See the attached view of the W gable Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 24 August 2010