Church in Drumcliff South

On the S bank of the Drumcliff River, c. 500m E of the mouth of the river where it opens into Drumcliff Bay. Listed as 'Church' in the SMR (1989) and as 'Church site' in the RMP (1995), this record refers to medieval churches known to have existed at Drumcliff, but which have left no trace at ground level. A monastery was founded by St Colmcille at Drumcliff in 574 (Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 34). Early sources suggest that there was more than one church here. The Annals of Connacht record that in the year in 1267 'Drumcliff was completely burned, with its churches'. An entry in the Annals of Lough Cé records that in 1315 the wife of Aodh O Domhnaill, King of Tir-Connaill brought gallowglasses and members of the Clann Muirchertaigh to attack ‘the churches of Druim-Cliabh, and several of the clerics and comarbs of Druim-Cliabh were plundered by her.’ The Down Survey barony and parish maps (1655-6) show two churches at Drumcliff; one of the churches appears to stand more or less at the location of the early 19th-century Church of Ireland church, which now stands in the N half of the graveyard (SL008-084002-), and a second church is shown a short distance to the E. A hint that the current church, which was built in 1809, may indeed overlie the site of an early church is offered by O'Donovan in the 1836 OS Letters: 'There is a tradition that an old church stood where the Protestant church of Drumcliffe now stands, which was called Teampull Buide.' (O'Flanagan 1933, 83 (31)). Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 3 November 2020