Church (in Ruins) — Kilbeg (toem Par.)

On top of a natural rise of ground in the centre of Toem village, with good views in all directions. A 19th-century C of I tower is all that remains in the centre of the graveyard. The earliest headstones noted in the graveyard date from the 18th and 19th century. Local tradition claims that there was a monastery in the field immediately N of the churchyard (Reynolds 1975, 89). The earliest reference to a church in Toem is found in the Plea Rolls of 1302 (Seymour 1917, 38). In the Down Survey of 1655-8 the church was described as being in ruins, but it appears to have been rebuilt after the Restoration as it listed in a church-list of 1667-70, it was renovated by the White family in the 1690s (FitzGerald 1895-7, vol. 3, 340; Butler 2006, 186) and continues to be mentioned throughout the 18th century. According to the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 99) the C of I church was constructed c. 1805, possibly on the site of the earlier church. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 06 February 2012