Its walls stand almost to full height, yet by 1837 a contemporary observer reported that the date and cost of its erection were simply unascertainable. That opacity is part of what makes it interesting: the building contains architectural fragments from at least two distinct periods, quietly layered on top of one another.

The church served as the parish church of Ardagh, and was already described as ruinous by 1615. It was apparently rebuilt shortly afterwards as a Church of Ireland parish church, and it is at that point that the building's character becomes pleasingly complicated. The doorway in the north wall carries all the hallmarks of late medieval stonework, with a cut-stone surround featuring a pointed arch, chamfered edges, and a hood moulding with stepped terminals. A hood moulding is a projecting course of stone designed to throw rainwater clear of a doorway, and the stepped terminals here are a decorative finishing detail at each end. Researchers believe this doorway was not originally in the north wall at all, but was reset there during the post-1615 rebuilding, its original position having been in the south wall opposite. The south wall does still contain a door and window opening, while the east wall retains a large window opening that has lost its top, and the west wall holds a window with a pointed brick arch. The east gable has also lost its upper section, meaning the building presents a slightly uneven skyline, intact on three sides and open to the sky on the fourth. The parish was eventually united with Youghal in 1872, after which the church was almost certainly abandoned, leaving the fabric more or less as it stands today.