2023:755 - Errigal Truagh Church, Mullanacross, Monaghan

The archaeological monitoring and investigation associated with the conservation works at the eastern gable of the church at Errigal Truagh allowed some tentative concluding points to be made about the standing fabric.

The removal of the ivy has revealed internal plaster/render on the western side of the gable, south of the window. This confirmed that the wall was not entirely rebuilt as a folly and that the standing remains once formed part of a functioning church.

The alignment of the northern wall foundation with the wide ‘plinth’ at the lower courses of the gable suggested that the standing church was re-built on an earlier foundation. Given that the church is recorded as being in ruins in 1622, it is likely that the ‘plinth’ represented the remains of this earlier church.

The identification of an octagonal mullion fragment illustrated that this large window had at least two lights. The further identification of a curved window head or tracery element from the western gable door supported this view. Both the round-headed form and the presence of glazing bars (instead of glazing grooves) are suggestive of a 17th-century date. Without further architectural fragments it is impossible to characterise the likely form of this window further.

The three trial pits, excavated at the northern end, the southern end and mid-way along the western side of the gable identified the base of the wall at a consistent depth if c. 400mm below current ground level. No additional building phases or worked stone was identified, however, a dense layer of perforated roof slate, mortar and stone was identified slumped against the internal face of the wall.

During the excavations, no grave-cuts were identified but a quantity of disarticulated human bone was retrieved from the soil which was loose, dark brown and humic in nature. These remains were photographed before being placed back in the base of each cutting on the advice of IAC’s osteoarchaeologist, before being covered with 200mm of stone-free, soft clay prior to the backfilling of the pits. Beyond the single dressed stone fragment previously identified within the fabric of the window no additional architectural fragments were identified. The monitoring of the conservation works identified the location of the northern church wall where it meets the eastern gable. This wall was formerly covered by ivy growth and a buildup of organic detritus at ground level. Despite investigation, the southern wall was not identified.