Church, Kilmagig, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Churches & Chapels

Church, Kilmagig, Co. Wicklow

At the summit of a wide, gently domed ridge in County Wicklow, surrounded by a large wheat field, there is a church that has almost entirely surrendered to vegetation.

The walls survive to roughly a metre in height, built in coarse, apparently unmortared stone, and so thoroughly consumed by growth that little more than the outline can be made out. What makes the site quietly compelling is this combination of exposure and concealment: an open agricultural landscape, a prominent hilltop position, and at its centre something that can barely be seen at all.

The church stands at the northern end of a graveyard enclosure that is considerably better defined. The enclosure is roughly quadrangular, measuring around 45 metres north to south and 35 metres east to west, and bounded by an earth and stone bank faced on the outside with a vertical drystone wall. A drystone wall is one built without mortar, relying instead on the careful placement of stone for its stability, and the technique is common in Irish ecclesiastical enclosures of early medieval origin. The northern, eastern, and southern sides of the boundary run straight, while the western wall carries a slight curve, a detail sometimes associated with earlier, pre-rectangular enclosure traditions. The church itself was recorded on the Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1838, and the OS Letters compiled by O'Flanagan in 1928 give its dimensions as approximately 9 metres by 4.5 metres, a modest nave-sized structure typical of rural early Christian foundations.

The site sits within a working wheat field, so access is seasonal and the immediate surroundings will vary considerably depending on the time of year. The graveyard can be entered through a modern gate near the southern end of the east wall. The church itself, at the northern end of the enclosure, is best approached with low expectations of dramatic masonry; what remains is more impression than structure, a low rumple of overgrown stone that rewards patience and a willingness to read a landscape rather than inspect a monument.

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