Church (in Ruins) — Foyran

According to Cogan (1870, 569) the abbey of Foyran, anciently called Faebhrom, or Faobhran, was founded most probably in the sixth century. The Four Masters record at A.D. 754, ‘Eochaidh, Abbot of Faebhran, died’. In 1870 Cogan described the site as the ‘old church of Foyran, long since in ruin, stands at the foot of a hill in the heart of a wild lonely country. In the neighbourood of the church is a holy well called Tober-Aidan (WM001-043----), in memory of St. Aidus, or Hugh, the founder, or patron saint. In the Martyrology of Donegal, the festival of St. Aedh, son of Brec, of Foibren, is marked at the 1st of November. According to Gwynn and Hadcock (1970, 385) a monastery was founded here by St. Edan (Aodh). Ó Riain (2011, 65) recorded that Aodh of Foyran (Faoibhréan) known locally as Aodhán (Edan) was the son of Raoi, whose feastday was celebrated on the 1st of November and is almost certainly the same as Aodh [Hugh] of Rahugh monastery (WM038-041----). The 1302-06 ecclesiastical taxation of Ireland valued the church of 'Farbune' [Faveran/Foyran] at 40 shillings per year (Cal. doc. Ire., 259). The church is depicted on the 1657 Down Survey parish map of Foyran (NLI, MS 723-4). The impropriate tithes of Foyran church belonged to the Earl of Westmeath. In 1864 George Du Noyer painted a watercolour of Foyran Church showing the ruins of a multi-period nave (approx. int. dims. 10.3m E-W ; 5.5m N-S; wall T 0.9m) and chancel (approx. int. dims. 6.7m E-W x 4.8m N-S) church with a possible doorway located off centre to W in N wall of nave and triangular-headed window of pre-Norman date in S wall of nave (Du Noyer Sketches VI (45), Royal Irish Academy). This window was located off centre to E in S wall of nave close to the chancel arch and was set into a round-headed window embrasure. A voussoir of this arch has now been built into the top of the graveyard boundary wall to the S of the church. On this painting a mound of stones in the centre of the nave represented the collapsed remains of the chancel arch. Only the N wall of the chancel appears to be upstanding at this time with the springing of a vaulted roof over the chancel. A square headed aumbry or niche is visible in N wall of chancel. Only the N half of the E gable was upstanding at this time. A second watercolour depicted the large masonry used in the construction of the S wall of the church. The W gable was surmounted by a triple pointed-arch belfry of late medieval appearance. A gap in the centre of the wall has now been broken out into a large opening with the remains of a broken out flat-headed window at first floor level in centre of W gable. A plan of the church drawn by Du Noyer (George Victor Du Noyer, “Small cross of road side Td. Of Foyran. 300 yards WNW of the old church. Co. W Meath. Sheet 1/4,” Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, accessed January 22, 2020, http://rsai.locloudhosting.net/items/show/23442.) shows that the church was a multi-period building with a chancel added to a pre-Norman single-cell church which later served as the nave. A door was located off centre to W in the N wall of the nave with the remains of a triangular-headed window at E end of S wall of nave. The chancel was lit by a window at the E end of the N and S walls of the chancel. A mural passage in the N wall of the chancel gave access to a mural stairs leading to a first floor above the chancel. The E window and chancel arch did not survive intact at the time of the Du Noyer sketch. Present remains consist of an ivy-clad church ruins which is impossible to examine due to dense cover of vegetation. The church was previously described in 1981 as 'the ruin of a rectangular church (nave int. dims. 4.7m N-S by 7.5m E-W; chancel 5.4m N-S by 10.95m E-W) aligned ESE-WNW stands at the centre of a subrectangular walled graveyard (WM001-042001-). The nave of the church measures approx. 7m wide (N-S) by 12.5m long (E-W) externally. The north wall has almost completely collapsed and massive chunks of masonry lie within the ruin and outside it to the north. The NW and SW corners have partly collapsed. Part of the south wall survives almost to roof level, the eastern end of this south wall of the nave has partly collapsed and a large ash tree grows out of the wall here. The walls of the nave are built of large and medium sized blocks of limestone. A rough opening in the west wall now partly blocked may be the original doorway. A roughly rectangular opening above this represents the remains of a window. No dressed stones remain. Above the gable rises a belfry with two simple pointed openings and a smaller arched opening above. The belfry is built of smaller stones, with roughly dressed corner stones and appears to be later than the rest of the structure. At the east end of the nave is a chancel approx. 7.3m long by approx. 6.4m wide. The north wall of the chancel and the NE corner remain intact, however the east and south walls have almost completely disappeared. These walls are built of smaller stones than the nave and appear to be of later date, probably 15th century. The upper part of the northern wall shows clear remains of the springing of a vaulted roof above the chancel. Towards the eastern end of the chancel the north wall is set inwards and there is the remains of a narrow mural passage, presumably a stairway within the wall. This stairs appears to have given access to a chamber or apartments above the chancel, presumably there was a tower here at the east end. Towards the western end of the chancel in the north wall there is a small narrow slit window. The chancel wall on the north side is not bonded into the nave wall, clearly indicating that it is of a different date. Built into the graveyard wall on the south side is a rounded window head. The head has a wide splay on the inside. The overall width of the window head is 90cms by 55cms deep, while the actual head of the rounded opening, a narrow loop or slit is 13cms wide. This head is of limestone and is of 12th or 13th century date. Such a date would suit the remains of the nave. This window head may be the remains of the original east window of a 12th or 13th century church which was altered or extended by the addition of a chancel and tower above and a belfry at the west end in the 15th century. No definite remains of earthworks. Part of what seems to be a cloister pillar probably from Fore marks a grave to the SW of the church' (SMR file). A holy well marked as 'Bishop Hugh's Well' (WM001-043----) is located c.235m to the SE. The remains of a cross (WM001-041----) are located c.85m to SW and a second cross (WM001-040----) is c.240m to NW. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 3 December 2009