Site of Chapel Hogan — Rock Big

Situated in modern Roadstone quarry on a marked NE-facing slope overlooking the seashore, 2.1km SSE of Arklow town. Two holy wells, Lady's Well (WI045-006----) and St. Patrick's Well (WI045-007-----) lie 130m to the SSW and 280m to the SSE respectively. Site of chapel now occupied by a quarry office. Today there are no surface remains visible of Chapel Hogan which was annotated 'Site of Chapel Hogan' on the 1840 ed. OS 6-inch map. In 1838-40 the site of the church was described in the Ordnance Survey Letters as following; 'there is an old little burial place at the south end of the strand in the Townland of Bigrock; it has no name'. Price (1967, 484) wrote about the OS Letters and stated that 'the place he is referring to is Chapel Hogan. There was a mound here with a small piece of masonry on it, but it has now been levelled. I cannot explain the name, but it may have some connection with Baltinglass Abbey (WI027-024001-). The Abbey owned a slat-pan at Arklow adjoining the lands which had been granted to the Cistercians of Furness; it must have been somewhere on the sea-shore here. Baltinglass Abbey also owned the lands of the parish of Clonmelsh, Co. Carlow, and there is a place there called Killogan Burial Ground (CW012-025001-) or Kill Hogan, as it was pronounced locally. Chapel Hogan may have been a chapel belonging to the Abbey near their salt-pan'. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 22 May 2020