site of St. Michaels Church — Townparks (st. Michael's of Feagh Par.)

The site of the parish church of St Michael of Feagh is within a raised subrectangular graveyard (dims c. 50m WNW-ESE; c. 30m NNE-SSW) defined by masonry walls. It is located towards the N end of a low NW-SE ridge. This parish is thought to be an Ostman or Viking suburb of Wexford (Colfer 1991-2, 22), and Hore (1900-11, vol. 4, 262) suggests that this is the church of St. Alloc, described in 1172 as being near Wexford when it was granted to the Knights Templar. The rectory of St. Michael’s was owned by the Hospitallers of Kilmainham at the Dissolution in 1541 (White 1943, 103). According to a Visitation by Thomas Ram, the Protestant bishop of Ferns, in 1615 Thomas Gallamore was the curate and the church and chancel were in repair (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 268). The church is described as dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel c. 1680 when its material was used to repair the castle (WX037-032001-) (Hore 1862, 66). There are no visible remains of the church at ground level. Archaeological testing (94E0198) and (94E0202) on the E wall of the graveyard produced evidence of post-medieval burials (Scally 1995), but testing (04E1257) at Faythe Lane c. 60m to the S failed to produce any related material (Stafford 2008). Archaeological testing (18E0460) by Y. Whitty on the W side of Michael St. produced no archaeological finds or features (excavations.ie 2018: 778). 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: 20 December, 2012 Amended: 2 Sep. 2013, 9 Nov. 2020