Cathedral of Saint Mel in Ardagh

In pasture on the NW side of Ardagh village; within the W half of a graveyard (LF019-050002-). Depicted on an early 17th-century map of Ardagh barony (BL, Cotton MS Augustus I.ii.25) as a roofed church with a possible bell tower, with another smaller ruined church (LF019-051001-) nearby. Now ruined, this ivy-covered church (ext. dims. 18.6m E-W; 8.1m N-S; wall T 0.9-1.07m; int. dims. 16.27m E-W; 6.46m N-S) appears to date to high medieval period and was substantially rebuilt or altered in the late 17th/early 18th-century. The main architectural features include the remains of the doorway in the W gable, a large blocked-up window in the E gable, three rectangular windows in the S wall and two smaller ones in the N wall. A doorway in the E end of the N wall was blocked up in the 19th century when the burial tomb of the Fetherston family was inserted into the NE corner of the interior of the church. An associated wall plaque, dated 1853, has been inserted into the fill of the blocked doorway. The W gable is 0.2m thicker than the N and S side-walls. This suggests that it may have supported a bellcote, as indicated on the early 17th-century map (ibid.), or that it predates the side-walls. The N wall extends to the W of it, suggesting that this angle was formerly buttressed. Alternatively, this section of walling may relate to a domestic range associated with the church. At the W end of the S wall there is evidence of a straight joint that marks a change in the fabric of the wall, suggesting that this wall was either extended or rebuilt. A number of cut and moulded stones from a window or doorway, dating from the late 12th/early 13th century, lie within the W end of the church and in the graveyard immediately surrounding it.