Outeragh Church (in ruins) — Outeragh

On a slight rise in gently undulating terrain, surrounded by pasture, with the main N8 Cahir-Cashel road running N-S to the W. Geoffrey Keating (Seathrún Céitinn) was the parish priest of Outeragh in 1610 (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 133). The church (ext. dims. 8.8m N-S; 19.9m E-W; wall T 0.95-1.05m) is roughly centrally placed within a rectangular graveyard (TS076-018001-) and built of roughly coursed limestone rubble with occasional sandstone conglomerate. The E and W gables of the church are heavily ivy covered, though the outline of a bellcote is visible on the latter. Only the E end of the N wall survives (H 3.6m) and evidence of a doorway in the W end is indicated by a drawbar-hole in the masonry. A short length of the W end of the S wall survives. According to the OS Letters of 1840 there was a 'clump of the south wall attached at some height from the ground to the east gable, on which some traces of the eastern side of a window are noticeable' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 2, 122). A large broken-out window in the E gable is splayed internally, the surrounds are missing, though according to Cahill (unpublished 1982) it had sandstone dressing and a sandstone jambstone with an external chamfer lies at the internal base of the E gable. Along the N wall there is a tall narrow embrasure, the window itself broken out. The N wall has a slight base-batter (Wth 0.3m; H 1.25m), but this has been removed at the E end and the wall straightened and repointed to provide a back wall for a modern 'oratory' or prayer shelter. Otherwise this structure consists of a concrete plinth and slated gabled roof held up by sections of pipe filled with concrete. The N end of the W wall has been altered. While the lower courses remain, the wall above has been re-faced and, in effect, shortened. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011