St. Mary Magdalenes Church (in ruins)

The parish church of Maudlintown is situated on a low-lying landscape within a rectangular graveyard (dims. c. 50-55m E-W; c. 35m N-S) defined by masonry walls. It was attached to the Leper Hospital (WX037-041----) and was granted to the Knights Hospitaller of St John at Kilmainham, Co. Dublin in the 15th century. Portion of the W gable (L 7m; max. H 2.5m) with a break at the centre survives with part of the adjacent S wall. The lower end of a medieval graveslab (Wth 0.41-0.51m; T 0.13m; H 0.67m) with a raised fleur-de-lis terminal is used as a grave-marker at the N edge of the church. The site of St Mary Magdalene's Well (WX037-040----), at which patterns were celebrated on the 22nd of July until c. 1790 (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 1, 376) is c. 150m to the NE. Archaeological testing (13E0258) by Mary Henry immediately S of the graveyard produced no related material (excavations.ie 2013:173). 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: 14 December, 2012 Amended: 24 November 2020