Site of Church

Marked 'Church (site of)' on the 1839 and 1925 eds of the OS 6-inch map, and situated on the S bank of a meandering NE-SW tidal river, c. 60m from the stream. Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 45) records that the present Church of Ireland church was built in 1764 when Ardcolm parish was united with the old medieval parishes of St. Margaret’s, Atramont, Tikillin, Kilpatrick, Ardcavan, Ballyvalloo, Skreen and St. Nicholas’ - almost all the parishes of Shelmaliere East barony. Lewis (ibid.) also says it was built on the site of a castle, which was on ground provided by the bishop. There is no visible trace of an older church or castle at ground level within a raised rectangular graveyard (dims. c. 70m N-S; c. 45-70m E-W) defined by a masonry wall, and the present church was probably built in the developing village of Castlebridge at a location that may have had a castle 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: 31 August, 2012