Coole Upper Two Churches

In level pasture. Remains of a rectangular church (11.3m E-W; 4.76m N-S), built of roughly-coursed sandstone blocks. Little is known of the church history (Power 1919, 53-4), though it was probably associated with an early monastery founded by St Abban (Gwynn and Hadcock 1988, 378) in the 6th century, and with another, larger church with antae and a 13th-century chancel located c. 150m to the NNW (CO036-01904-). They are both located within the grounds of an 18th-century country house (CO036-019001-), as is a holy well (CO036-019005-). Leask (1941) considered the remains 11th century in date but Harbison (1992, 75) dated it to the 12th or 13th century.

The E gable (H c. 4m) is missing point and edges. In the 19th century, the structure had been in poor condition for some time (Windele 1898, 60). Leask (ibid, 80) describes 'a large mass of stones filling the west end of the ruin, and a strong thicket of elders the rest'; earlier Power (1919, 47) reported that 'the NE corner has been recently despoiled of its well-dressed quoins', and the W gable could only be fixed approximately, while the foundations of the N and S walls were traceable. Based on these and further evidence found on the site, the OPW rebuilt the N and S walls (to H 1m) and extended them, rebuilding the W wall (H 1m) 2.8m further to the W. A stile was inserted in the centre of the W wall, and on inspection the interior was level and grassed over. Antae (projecting 0.3m; surviving to max. H 1.4m) project from the E ends of the N and S walls. The foundation courses of walls project over c. 8m from the S end of the W wall, and over c. 1.8m from the N end of the E wall. In the E gable (H c. 4m) is a window, slightly off-centre to the S, built of cut sandstones. It has a narrow (max. Wth 0.54m; H 1.2m) embrasure with a triangular-shaped head and slightly inclined jambs, and a triangular-headed light with slight shoulder, rebated all around on the outside edge. Its external embrasure was partially blocked up, so it appears as a narrow rectangular opening (H 0.54m; Wth 0.14m). Inside the window is a repaired stone altar; Power (ibid) suggests the church was 'used as a place of worship in the penal days'. A low earthen bank is visible in pastureland c. 60-70m N of the church, curving NW to ENE; the ENE end is cut by the narrow valley of a former stream bed running NW-SE.

This is a National Monument in State Guardianship (no. 395)