Church, Baile Iarthach Thuaidh, Co. Cork

Co. Cork |

Churches & Chapels

Church, Baile Iarthach Thuaidh, Co. Cork

The most quietly telling detail in this small ruined church in Baile Iarthach Thuaidh is a single window.

Set into the east gable, it carries an unusual foil or drop carved into its centre, a decorative flourish that marks it out from the plain utility of most rural medieval churches in West Cork. The building is modest by any measure, a rectangle just under fifteen metres long and not quite six metres wide, yet whoever commissioned that window wanted something a little more considered than the bare minimum.

The walls of the east gable and the north and south sides still stand to close to their original height of around 1.8 metres, giving a reasonable impression of the structure's proportions, though the upper part of the west gable has gone. A round-arched doorway survives near the west end of the south wall, and a lintelled window sits near the east end of the same wall. Aumbries, small recessed cupboards set into the wall, appear in both the north and south walls close to the east gable; these would have been used to store liturgical vessels or sacred objects during services. The church was already in ruins by 1693, as recorded by Webster, and R. Cochrane noted the distinctive east window in 1912, which suggests the building has been attracting at least occasional scholarly attention for over a century without ever quite becoming well known. It sits within a graveyard, which likely continued in use long after the church itself fell out of service, a common enough pattern in rural Ireland where the ground remained consecrated even after the walls gave way.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Church, Baile Iarthach Thuaidh, Co. Cork. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement