Stonecarthy Church

On a W-facing slope with a views limited to the W-N. The church is centrally placed within a small graveyard (KK027-046002-). According to the OS Letters (1839), the church ‘is called Roilig Stún Carrtha, Roilig Stun Carrtha, i.e., the Burying Ground of Stun Cartha’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 283 (95-6). Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 9), notes that in the ‘ancient records Stonecarty generally appears as Stamacarthy and Stamcarthy. As early as the episcopate of Felix O’Dulany (1178-1202), William Tobin, the lord of the soil, granted the church of Stamacharty to the House of the Canons Regular of Kells in Ossory’. Carrigan (ibid. 9-10), who visited the church c. 1900, describes it as being, ’60 ft. [18.3m] long, and 25 ft. [7.62m] wide. The south side-wall is 12ft. [3.65m] high, the original height, and 3 ft. 2 inc. [0.95m] thick, the north side-wall is almost entirely gone; the east gable and about half the west gable yet remain. There is a broken Celtic window in the east gable, small on the outside, but splaying widely on the inside. There is a round-headed dorrway in the south wall, nearer to the east end, the arch of which is turned with thin flags laid on end. Portion of this south wall dates centuries before the Norman Invasion. The western gable is of later date, and on both its inside and outside surfaces may be observed, used as ordinary building stones, twelve beautifully cut and ornamented freestone blocks which formed the framework of the original western entrance door. On the rebuilding of this gable, another door, now marked by a breach, was inserted in the west end of the south wall. There is a broken credence at the Epistle side of the altar. All other features of the church have been destroyed. The masonry throughout may be almost described as cyclopean’.

The church is a ruined rectangular building (int. dims. 17.5m E-W; 6.5m N-S; wall T 0.9m) constructed of roughly coursed limestone and sandstone rubble, with larger roughly cut blocks in the lower courses of the W gable. The E gable stands to almost full height and contains the remains of an internally splayed window embrasure with cut and dressed sandstone jambs surviving on the S side of the embrasure. The single-light window is broken out. The N wall has been reduced to its wall-footings (H above int. 0.4m), with a large heap of collapsed masonry lying up against its W end. Only the S portion of the W gable survives, with moulded sandstone jambs reused in the masonry courses. The S wall has been rebuilt and loose masonry piled up on top of it. One of the entrances to the church is positioned at the E end of the S wall, consisting of uncut jambs and pointed voussoirs (H 1.67m; Wth 0.87m). There are put-log holes visible in both gables. There is a wall monument, consisting of a large rectangular granite moulded frame with a pediment, at the S end of the internal face of the W gable. The plaque or memorial stone which was within is now missing. Within the graveyard there is a late 13th/early 14th-century graveslab (KK027-046003-).

Amongst the reused jambstones in the W gable is one on the internal face which has a three-quarter pointed bowtell moulding with a straight-joint/break on one side and on the other side a hollow, roll and hollow moulding. One of those visible on the external face has a three-quarter bowtell moulding, perhaps with the point broken off, with a hollow, roll and hollow moulding on either side. These typically date to the 13th century and suggest that the church had more elaborate architectural details at this date.