Church (in ruins) — Leigh

National Monument No. 266. To the S of the early medieval church are the well-preserved remains of a large multi-period nave (ext. dims. 9.1m N-S; E-W 15.15m; wall T 0.94m) and chancel (dims. 9.1m N-S; 8.1m E-W) church with at least four phases of building (Leask 1955, 65). This church was built on a raised circular platform. The site is listed in the ecclesiastical taxation of the Diocese of Cashel in 1302 where it is referred to as 'Burgleth' (Cal. doc. Ire. vol. 5, 284). There was a room over the vaulted chancel in the fifteenth century. A garderobe tower was built against the E end of the N wall with access to the first floor via a mural stairs in the S wall of the chancel. A doorway with some reused Romanesque stones occupies the W end of the N wall with a sheela-na-gig (TN042-055004-) carved on the E impost of the doorway. A late medieval doorway lies directly opposite in the S wall. The W gable appears to have been added, probably in the sixteenth-century, with a single-light ogee-headed window with hollowed spandrels and hood-moulding over. Several carved sandstone heads of twelfth-century date have been inserted into the N and S walls and into the window embrasures of the church. The surviving barrel-vaulted chancel appears to be built on the line of the Romanesque nave with evidence of a blocked-up chancel arch where a twin-light ogee-headed transomed and mullioned window is now located. This in turn incorporated an early masonry church with antae of which only the north wall and part of the east wall survive. Wall-footings of an earlier chancel protrude beyond the E gable of the surviving chancel. Excavations by Macalister and Leask (1945-8, 1-14) revealed the N and S wall-footings of an earlier wider and longer church of possible thirteenth-century date. There is no trace of the enclosing cashel described by Rev. Seymour during his visit to the site in the early 1900s (Seymour 1912, 128). In the Regal Visitation of 1615 the church was not in use and had no curate (ibid., 133). A sketch of the church in 1716 reveals that 'the nave was roofed, probably with boards, while a cross surmounted the W gable' (ibid., 133). Macalister discovered in the floor of the chancel a small strip of bronze which possibly belonged to a shrine with an inscription which reads 'mac cenedic do rig erend' (Macalister and Leask 1945-8, 3). The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008