Shankill Church (in ruins)

Within a small wood on a very slight rise in the parkland surrounding Shankill Castle, on the gently rolling valley floor. Roughly centrally placed within a sub-rectangular graveyard (KK016-008001-). There are good views in all directions. According to the OS Letters (1839), this is the ancient church of Shankill (O’Flanagan 1939, vol. 1, 253-4 (85)). O’Kelly (1985, 95) states that it had been, ‘repaired for Protestant divine service’. A rectangular church (int. dims. 18.4m E-W; 5.45m N-S; wall T 0.8m; side walls H c. 2.5m) built of roughly coursed limestone rubble, with a base-batter (H 1m) and punch-dressed quoins. The gables stand to their full height. Some sections of the side walls have collapsed, including the E end of the S wall, the W end of the N wall and the NE angle, while others are very unstable. The entrance was at the W end of the S wall but has been robbed out (gap 1.1m). The church was lit by three tall round-headed windows, in the E and W gable and at the E end of the N wall and a crude flat-headed single-light window at the W end of the S wall. There is a corbel on each of the side walls at the W end and beam-holes in the W gable which suggests there was a gallery at this end. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 29 April 2020

Shankill Church, dedicated to St Columba, was built in the 13th century by the MacSweeney family, Gaelic lords of Inishowen. The church is significant as a medieval ecclesiastical site associated with the local Gaelic aristocracy and is linked to the nearby Shankill Castle.