Nunnery (in Ruins) — Carricknahorna West

Incorporated into a farmyard, on an E-facing upland terrace overlooking Lough Arrow to the NE. Two discrete sections of walling survive which appear to be the end-walls of a rectangular building (ext. L 17.5m N-S). Both sections (T 1.1m) are similar in construction; mortared limestone rubble laid in intermittant courses. The N section (L 5.5m; H 2.25m) contains the NW corner of the building, with a short return of the W wall (L 1.25m). Through the N wall is a blocked-up opening (Wth 1m; H 1.55m) which may have been a doorway. This wall forms the end-wall of a small shed. The S section (L 2.2m; H 2.3m) is very fragmentary and has also been used as the wall of a small shed. On the internal wall-face, 0.65m above ground level, is a wall-press (Wth 0.65m; H 0.55m; D 0.5m). Extending E from this section, and apparently a continuation of it, are low fragmentary wall-footings (H c. 0.3m; L c. 4.5m) ending in a jumble of stones at the foot of a cedar tree. This suggests that the original structure was at least 7m in width. According to local information, human bones (SL040-186002-) were found on the N side of the structure during construction works. Described in 1836 as 'the remains of old walls called by the people Teach na gCaileachaidh Dúbha [the house of the Black Nuns], which they say was a nunnery' (OSL, 157). Wood-Martin (1882, 66) noted the doorway in the N wall, and also mentioned that the greater portion of the building had fallen down the precipice where its ruins lay strewn (this area is occupied by the farmyard). Listed by Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 375) as the site of a Patrician monastery. However, surviving remains are unlikely to be earlier than the late medieval period. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008