Clonamery Church

On an E-W ridge in undulating terrain, in pasture, with the River Nore running c. 400m to the SW. Probably dedicated to St Brendan, though according to Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 120), the patron saint of the church was known locally as, ‘Naev [naomh] Broondhawn or Naev [naomh] Broundhawn’ and because of this local tradition, and the locals specific pronunciation of his name, he argues against the identification of this saint with St Brendan. A nave (int. dims. 14.47m E-W; 5.73m N-S; W gable T 0.97m) and chancel church (int. dims. 6.74m E-W; 4.41m N-S; wall T 0.73m; E gable T 0.77m). The W end of the nave (int. dims. c. 9m E-W; 5.66m N-S), with a gable with antae (N antae Wth 0.78m; D 0.27m; S antae Wth 0.81m; D 0.33m), is pre-Romanesque (10th-11th century) in date and is constructed of well-coursed roughly rectangular blocks with a basal plinth evident at the W end of the N wall (H 0.5m; Wth 0.1m). Subsequently the nave was extended eastward and then a chancel added, the stonework in the E end of the nave consisting of roughly coursed rubble, while that of the chancel is of poorer quality roughly coursed slate and stone rubble. The upper courses of the original nave, c. 2.5m above ground level, are later, with a wide relieving arch above the entrance doorway giving addition support to the W gable which supports a double bellcote. A later sacristy (int. dims. 2.83m E-W; 2.46m N-S) was also added to the N wall of the chancel, probably contemporary with the upper W gable. The church was entered through a lintelled doorway with inclined jambs and plain relief architrave decorated at the top with an equal-armed patée cross with a short cross shaft on a slight rectangular cross base rising above the architrave. There are no original window openings in the pre-Romanesque portion of the nave. In the upper portion of the W gable there is a rectangular window with crudely dressed surrounds. In the S wall of the nave, within the later masonry, there is a blocked opening into which a wall memorial was inserted, externally, in 1860 (Hughes 1956-7, 28). In the OS Letters of 1839 (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 2, 111), this opening is described as, ‘a square topped window measuring on the inside five feet [1.52m] in height, two feet five inches [0.73m] in breadth at top and two feet seven inches [0.79m] at bottom and on the outside where it is six feet [1.82m] from the present level of the ground it measures two feet three inches [0.68m] in height and in breadth six inches [0.15m] at the top and eight inches [0.21m] at the bottom’. In the N wall of the nave, immediately E of the break in masonry style, there is a blocked up flat-headed doorway (H 1.72m; Wth 1.2m), with a raised threshold (H 0.25m). The jambs appear to be of re-used stone with a poor quality thin lintel which has cracked in the middle. The surround of the head of the chancel arch (H 2.41m; Wth 1.87m) are missing. The chancel is not keyed into the E wall of the nave. The narrow doorway (H 1.87m; W 0.66m) at the W end of the S wall has slate stone jambs and voussoirs. There is a flat-headed single-light window at the E end of the S wall and a well-cut round-headed single-light window with external rebate (opening H 0.6m; Wth 0.26m) in the E gable. The latter window form suggests a date not later than the 12th century for the chancel. The N wall of the chancel is largely gone, only the lower 6/7 courses at the E end surviving. The entrance to the sacristy does not survive, however, the walls are relatively intact, with a long flat-headed single-light window in the E wall. Associated with the church is a simple stoup (KK033-021007-) and three cross-inscribed pillars (KK033-021003-; KK033-021009-; KK033-021010-).

(National Monument no. 77)