St. Patricks Ch. — Wexford

The parish church of St Patrick's is located on a rise within a subrectangular graveyard (dims c. 45m NNW-SSE; c. 25m ENE-WSW at S to c. 50m ENE-WSW at N) defined by masonry walls on three sides with the town wall at W. According to a Visitation by Thomas Ram, the Protestant bishop of Ferns, in 1615 William Roche was the vicar and the church and chancel were in repair (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 267). This church has a double nave (int. L 12.95m; total int. Wth 12.92m) that survives complete to the eaves, except the SW angle, and a chancel (L 9.5m), now represented only by the S wall. An arcade of four arches with plank centering but plain voussoirs separates the S nave (int. Wth 5.76m) from the N nave (int. Wth 6.3m). There is a double bellcote over the W gable of the N aisle, and a Sanctus bellcote over the chancel arch of the S nave. The W window of the S aisle was probably a lancet, but there is an inserted triple-light window in limestone with cusped ogee-heads in the W gable of the N aisle. There are destroyed doorways in the N and S walls of the nave, and there is a possible doorway in the S wall of the chancel. There are three window embrasures in the N and S nave walls, but the only complete window is a triple-light ogee-headed window at the E end of the S nave wall and this is probably inserted. There are no memorial monuments in the graveyard. (Cullen 1895, 374; Hore 1900-11, vol. 5, 76-9) 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: 19 December, 2012 Amended: 2 Sep. 2013