Abbey, Church Island — Church Island (lough Owel)

St. Loman's Oratory is situated on a rise of ground at SE end of Church Island 7m W of the E shoreline at SE end of Lough Owel. Church Island lies 570m W of the shoreline with the townland of Ballynagall. Portloman church (WM011-145----) and graveyard (WM011-145001-) 2.3km to the W. Lomán of Lough Owel (Lough Uair) was the son of Oireannan and was associated with a church on Church Island (Inis Mor) and with a church (WM0111-145-----) at Portloman (Teach/Port Lomáin) also possibly known as Teach Mic Luim (Ó Riain 1992, 401-02). The Martyrology of Donegal lists the 7th of February as the feastday of St. Loman of Loch Owel. Church Island was referred to in the medieval annals as Inis Mór or the Big Island. The oratory, graveyard and other features on the island were described in 1876 by O'Hanlon (1875-1903, 386-7) as following; 'A very interesting old church stands, but in a ruinous state, on the small islet. It was built of fine limestone. Interiorly, it measured thirty-five feet [10.56m] in length, by eighteen feet [5.5m] in width. The walls were three feet [0.9m] in thickness. An end eastern and circularly-headed window was in the gable, as yet tolerably perfect. A window can be seen in the north sidewall, while a door was in the southern side wall. The west gable has completely disappeared. Elder trees grow within and around the ruins, which are also covered with ivy. An old cemetery [WM012-167001-] extended without the church, and about fifty years before [c. 1826], the last corpse had been conveyed to it by boats and attendants from the mainland. Two distinctly marked piles of building stones are to be seen, on the very margin of the lake, and formerly these were more elevated over its surface than at present. They, however, are the debris of old anchoretical houses, now completely dilapidated, but apparently resembling, in former times, the beehive-shaped houses to be found in the west and south of Ireland. It is said, St. Lomman built a small house, in an island of Loch Uair, near Portlomain, and this seems most likely to have been the identical place. Except at the landing-place, and on the higher earth, near the old church and its graveyard, lake-flaggers and reedy-grass lift their tops amid the waters on the islet's margins. St. Lomman is said to have lived on Alexandric herbs, of which there was a great abundance on his island. This was the Smyrnium Olus-atrum, commonly called Alexanders, which was probably a corruption of Olus-atrum. The Irish name, Alistrin, for them, is certainly a corruption of Alexandrine'. In 1910 James Tuite sent Westmeath County Council a list of 'Ancient ruins in Westmeath suggested for preservation by the County Council under the Ancient Monuments Protection Acts, 1882 and 1892, and the Local Government Act, 1898'. Church Island was one of these monuments which he described as following; 'On this island, known in the Annals as Inis Mor, there are ruins of a very ancient church which, according to the Martyrology of Donegal, was built by St. Loman, whose monastery is situate on the mainland, about a mile distant. The Martyrology states that he lived on the island, and that his food consisted of herbs. The church measures 28 feet [8.5m] by 18 feet [5.5m]; the walls are 3 feet [0.9m] in thickness. When I last visited the island, about a year ago [c. 1909], the eastern gable, containing a circular-headed window, was still in a fairly good state of preservation, but the ruin would require immediate attention, as it is decaying very rapidly. This little church was originally stone-roofed. "A cemetery (WM012-167001-) formerly extended around the church. The last interment took place about ninety years ago [c. 1820), and was that of a young man who was drowned during the 'Patron' of Portloman [WM011-145----] while engaged in swimming horses, a very popular competition at the time, in the 'Horse Pool', a well-known part of the lake. The 'Patron' has not been held since' (Tuite, 1910, 354). In 1914 the church had been repaired and James Tuite wrote the following ; The remarkable and interesting ruin on Church Island, Lough Owel, known as St. Loman's Oratory, has been skilfully repaired to the order of the Westmeath County Council, under the supervision of the County Surveyor. Practically all the stones of the old building were found in the vicinity of the walls, some of them deeply embedded in clay and rubbish, the accumulation of centuries. They were all replaced in their original positions. The County Council spent about £40 on this ruin' (Tuite 1914, 167). Present remains consist of a small rectangular single cell structure (dims. 5.5m N-S; 8.5m E-W; wall T 0.9m) aligned ESE-WNW stands at N side of small circular shaped burial ground (WM012-167001-). The church has substantial walls built with large shaped undressed stones sometimes referred to as 'cyclopean masonry'. The oratory was entered through a narrow W doorway constructed with undressed jambs but now missing its lintel. The E gable survives intact and has a crude single light round-headed window, constructed of roughly cut voussoirs. Both the N and S walls survive to roof height, while only the lower courses of the W wall survive. Each side wall contains a single light window located off centre towards the E end. Both windows have internal splays, but the window heads are missing. Lying to the NW of the church is a holed stone, possibly the base for a cross (WM012-167003-). See attached plan and section of monument surveyed and drawn by the National Monuments Service. Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 9 March 2018