2000:0106 - ST MOLAGGA’S CHURCH, Aghacross, Cork

The medieval church of St Molagga at Aghacross lies c. 2km east of Kildorrery, off the main Mallow–Mitchelstown road. It stands on an elevated site overlooking the River Funshion to the south.

The surviving ruins consist of two distinct sections. The western section, built entirely of sandstone, probably dates from the 12th century, and its walls, especially the west, contain numerous Romanesque fragments built in at random. These testify to the former presence of a Romanesque doorway, which has been totally destroyed. The eastern section of the church is built of limestone and dates from the 15th century.

The graveyard in which the church is located is in regular use, and burial close to the walls over a prolonged period has destabilised portions of the walls. Some years ago Cork County Council embarked on a programme of conservation, concentrating initially on the east end. At that time trenches were archaeologically excavated by Laurence Dunne around the base of the walls at that end to expose the foundations and carry out the necessary remedial works. The excavations revealed extremely disturbed stratigraphy due to repeated burial, and no definite features were noted, nor were any artefacts recovered (Excavations 1997, 8).

The present phase of excavations was carried out around the west end of the church to facilitate conservation works in that area. Funding for the excavation and for post-excavation work was provided by the National Monuments Advisory Committee of Cork County Council. Trenches were excavated along most of the interior and exterior west wall, the north-west and south-west corners and along the exterior south wall and part of the interior south wall.

No coherent stratigraphy was noted in the fill of any of the trenches, a result of centuries of continuous burial. A considerable amount of human bone was recovered at all levels in the excavated trenches, but its disarticulated state indicated that it had been extensively disturbed. One articulate skeleton was discovered under the south wall and was retained for further analysis and possible dating. The skeleton lay supine in a west–east alignment, i.e. with the head to the west. The left arm was extended by the side; the upper portion of the right arm was missing; the lower portion lay across the lower chest area. Most of the skull was missing, but fragments of possibly two skulls lay on the lower right leg.

The church walls in all trenches were found to have been built on a plinth that generally protruded 0.1–0.3m from the wall face. The plinth consisted of large flat stones that had been laid, in places, on more rounded boulders set on edge on the underlying natural gravel. Sections of the plinth had been robbed out during grave-digging.

Masonry uncovered under the north-west corner of the church appeared to be the remains of an earlier building. It consisted of a mortared stone wall standing 0.3m high on average and appeared to be the north-west corner of a structure with a rounded external angle. When the corner of the present church was dismantled prior to reconstruction, what appeared to be the inner face of the earlier wall was uncovered, indicating that the latter was c. 0.8m thick. The surviving walls of the earlier structure extended 1.2m along the north and west walls of the present church, at which point they were presumably destroyed by burials.

What the form and function of this earlier structure were can now only be guessed, but, given that the site is associated with St Molagga, with whom two Early Christian sites in the district are associated, it may be that this structure also indicates an Early Christian origin for this site. The burial discovered under the south wall of the church may also date to this period, and it is hoped that radiocarbon dating will cast more light on this.

Ballynanelagh, Rathcormac, Co. Cork