Tooloobaun Church (in ruins)

In the NE sector of a graveyard (GA097-148003-) in rolling pastureland. This late-medieval rectangular church (int. dims. 13.2m E-W; 5.7m N-S; wall T 0.9m) is constructed of randomly coursed well-dressed and mortared limestone. It is heavily overgrown with ivy. The N wall (H 1.6-3m) is featureless apart from a small broken window at its W end. The E gable (H c. 1m) is largely collapsed. The S wall (H 3.5m) stands almost to its full height. A broken lintelled doorway is visible towards it W end and to its E end the embrasure of a window survives. Internally beneath this window there is a fluted piscina set into a pointed arched alcove. The W gable (H c. 5m) stands to its original height. A small window is visible near the top of it. A dividing wall (H 3.5m; T 0.6m) was subsequently inserted towards the W end of the church. A partially collapsed doorway at its S end accesses a small barrel-vaulted chamber (5.7m N-S; 2.8m E-W). Neither the dividing wall nor the vault are keyed into the N and S side-wall of the church. It is unclear how access was gained to the chamber overhead where the vault partially obscures the window in noted above in the N wall. The interior of the church is overgrown and contains a number of graves. Some architectural fragments are also visible but the broken stoup noted by Cody (pers. comm.) just inside and to the right of the S doorway was not evident. There is a standing stone (GA097-148002-) c. 25m to the N. (O'Flanagan 1927a, Vol. 1, 474). Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 7 April 2020