Kilmolash Church (in ruins) — Kilmolash

Situated on a level landscape. This is an early ecclesiastical site and the parish church of Kilmolash within a D-shaped graveyard (max. dims. c. 50m E-W; c. 45m N-S) defined by stone-clad earthen banks on the straight N and E sides, and a curving wall at the roadside SE-NW, now replaced by a picket fence. The nave (int. dims. 8.65m E-W; 5.75m N-S) and chancel (int. dims. 4.5m E-W; 4.25m N-S) survive almost complete, except the S nave wall, which has many gaps. There is a pointed doorway (Wth 1.15m; H 1.9m) with a hood-moulding towards the S end of the W wall, with a stoup in the wall on the outside. The W wall has a base-batter and a double belfry over an ogee-headed gallery window. A rectangular doorway (Wth 0.82m H 1.43m) was inserted in the N wall, with a fragment of a 12th-century rosette motif on a stone (Wth 0.33m; H 0.27m) above the lintel externally (O'Keeffe 1994, 129-32). There are three breaches in the S nave wall, two of which were probably windows, and one window in the N wall is now destroyed. The round chancel arch of dressed stone has an inscription on the N pier which reads FEARE GOD, HONER THE KINGE, ANNO DOM 1635. The chancel has a round-headed window towards the E end of both the N and S walls, that on the N using a cross-incsribed stone (Buckley 1899, 47) as the lintel of the embrasure. There was an altar in the chancel (Buckley 1896, 216), a few stones of which remain. The altar and a large inserted rectangular window opening in the E gable may be contemporary with the inscription on the chancel arch. There is a plain aumbry in the S wall, and an ogham stone with just the letters 'NN' (MacAlister 1945, vol. 1, 285-6) is used as a threshold to the chancel. A graveslab with a cross in relief is incorporated into the foundation of the SW corner of the nave, and a graveslab (dims. 1.45m x 0.35-0.55m) with the head of an ecclesiastic (Buckley 1896, 218) is in the graveyard N of the chancel. The fragment of a font, originally found in the graveyard wall (ibid., 219), is now missing. There is a record of a possible holy well in one of the surrounding fields, but the location is unknown (O'C. Redmond 1895, 155). (Power 1898a, 89-92) Buckley, M. J. C. (1896) Notes on Kilmolash Church, Near Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, WAJ vol. 2, 212-20. Buckley, M. J. C. (1899) Ecclesiological gleanings and jottings in Waterford and elsewhere. (continued) WAJ vol. 5, 44-8. Macalister, R. A. S. (1945) (reprint 1949) Corpus inscriptionum insularum Celticarum, 2 vols. Stationery Office, Dublin. O'C. Redmond, G. (1895) Notes on the history, antiquities, archaeological remains and legends connected with the western end of the county Waterford, part II.WAJ 1, 119-32, 147-61. O'Keeffe, T. (1994) Lismore and Cashel: reflections on the beginnings of Romanesque architecture in Munster. JRSAI 124, 118-52. Power, Rev. P. (1898a) Ancient ruined churches of Co. Waterford, WAJ 4, 83-95, 195-219. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 8 November 2011