2023:901 - Isertkelly North, Galway

A programme of conservation works was carried out at Isertkelly Church, Co. Galway, in October-November 2023. The works were funded under the Community Monuments Fund 2023 and follow on from a Conservation Management Plan prepared under funding from the Community Monuments Fund 2022. This phase of conservation work was concerned with the south and west walls of the church, both of which were in a very ruinous and vulnerable state. A number of collapses have occurred at the site in living memory, most recently in the summer of 2023 when a substantial section of masonry above the south doorway fell. To facilitate the proposed conservation works, the walls were scaffolded, cleared of vegetation, cleaned, and unstable masonry was taken down. The walls were then archaeologically assessed.

Following the recent collapse of the relieving arch over the south doorway, the only remaining visible architectural feature of the church is the window located east of centre in the south wall. The external remains comprise the west jamb, composed of two roughly-worked sandstone blocks (one red, and one yellow), and a worked limestone sill with diagonal tool marks. Internally, the west side of the window embrasure and its fire-damaged limestone and sandstone jambs survive. The inner faces of the west gable and south wall of the church were in very poor condition as a result of the cracking and flaking of the facing stonework. This is considered to be the consequence of a major fire event, which would have shattered and weakened the exposed surfaces of the stone, with subsequent freeze/thaw action resulting in further cracking and flaking. The date of the fire is unknown but it may be a relatively modern event associated with the burning of ivy on the church walls.

The first task of the conservation project was concerned with the west part of the south wall, which displayed a pronounced tilt to the south, estimated by the structural engineer to be in the region of 300-500mm off-centre. This section of wall was propped, braced, and successfully pushed back into a near vertical position. Rubble and chunks of ex-situ masonry were cleared from the base of the wall to facilitate the conservation works. The loose rubble was removed first and then the ex-situ masonry was levered away from the wall face. A total of twenty-nine architectural stones were recorded during the course of the project. These consist of nineteen loose stones found lying on the surface or recovered during the sorting of rubble mounds within the church, and ten stones that are re-used as grave markers. Most of the stones are from plain and modest architectural features but there are some finely-dressed voussoirs and an elongated mullion that hint at a more elaborate feature, most likely an east window.

The placename ‘Isertkelly’ is derived from the Irish Díseart Ceallaigh meaning ‘the hermitage of Ceallaigh’. It has been suggested that the site may be associated with Saint Ceallach, a 6^th-century Irish saint associated with the Uí Fiachrach Aidhne in South Galway. The placename suggests the possibility of an early medieval ecclesiastical site at Isertkelly. The surviving evidence suggests the existing remains at Isertkelly are those of a 12^th– or early 13^th-century church, built in the Hiberno-Romanesque style. The use of sandstone is typical of Romanesque architecture in Ireland, and the evidence of diagonal tooling on several limestone blocks is consistent with a 12th/13^th-century date. There is no evidence of an early medieval church here but the use of very large boulders in the construction of the church is reminiscent of the cyclopean masonry of early Irish churches.