Church in Ballyorley Upper

Located towards the top of a gentle NE-facing slope. A large circular enclosure (diam. c. 90m) defined by a scarp at W and E, with traces of a fosse (Wth 11m; D 0.4m) and external bank (Wth 5m; H 0.4m) at SW and N was visible in 1987. The enclosure is truncated at S by a NE-SW field bank. There is no evidence of burial, although there is a local tradition of burial. It is regarded locally as a church, although there is neither historical documentation nor evidence of an ancient church structure. The cross (WX021-002----), now mounted on the road bank c. 200m to the S is thought to have been removed from the site. The ringwork castle (WX021-001----) is c. 80m to the SE. At the centre of the enclosure are the grass-covered remains of a building that appeared in 1987 to have four cells. It is oriented E–W (ext. dims. 16.5m E–W; 9m N–S) and was thought to be recent and secular. It appeared to have an entrance (Wth 1m) at N. There was an earthen bank immediately adjacent to it on the W side and interupted sections of a bank outside it on the N side. The ecclesiastical enclosure was ploughed in 1995 which removed the traces of its outer bank and the banks associated with the central strucutre. The central building had been investigated by Rev. J. Ranson in 1948, but his results can only be reconstructed through local reports. He is thought to have recovered a cross and pottery that he thought was 14th century in date. A lot of ash was present. Since 2000 the site was fully researched by Kilkenny Archaeology for Peadar Ó Maoláin with a Hertiage Council grant, and an extensive area was surveyed with remote sensing techniques. In June 2009 the central structure was cleaned and surveyed accurately. (Ó Drisceoil 2009) The O'Dorans were brehons or lawyers to the Kavanaghs in the 15th and 16th centuries and in 1566 Donal O'Davoran, the head of the Burren law school in Co. Clare (CL009-001009-), visited the law school of David O'Doran at Ballyorley (Patterson 1991, 207-09). In 1570 Cahir O'Doran surrendered his lands to the King and received them back by letters patent (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 47), but by 1616 the O'Dorans were seeking the protection of the Crown from English settlers. By 1641 Brean O'Doran, a Protestant, had 200 acres at Garrybrit, but Ballyorley was held by a Rick Edward (Simington 1953, 25-6). The O'Dorans had tried to provide a bridge between brehon law and English common law, and the central structure may be the O'Doran law-school. The school is a rectangular building (ext. dims. 16.95m E-W; 7.35m N-S) defined by clay-bonded walls (Wth 0.9-1.2m; H 0.15m) with an entrance (Wth 1.18m) marked by a spud-stone towards the W end of the S wall. Two cross-walls that are not bonded to the outer walls create cells at the W (int. dims. 5.2m x 2.1m) and E (int. dims. 5.2m x 1.2m) ends. The building is within a rectangular enclosure (int. dims. c. 25m x 24m) defined by a fosse that was identified by remote sensing. This in turn is within the ecclesiastical enclosure (dims. 112m x 103m) defined by a fosse (Wth 4m) with probable entrance gaps at NE and W. At least three fields (dims. c. 50m x c. 40m to c. 100m x c. 75m) can be identified through remote sensing attached to the E and NE of the ecclesiastical enclosure. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 15 June, 2012