Skip to main content

dormitories, kitchen and so on. The church is built of limestone and greywacke. In the east wall of the chancel is a large opening that would once have contained a stained-glass window. There are three windows in the north wall and one in the south. Of the three windows in the north wall, two are open while the central one is blocked up. The large opening in the south wall would also originally have housed a window. Unfortunately, time and weathering have left no indications of any moulding or carving on what remains of these windows. On the outside of the eastern window, however, there is some remaining decoration, including a carved stone head on the northern rim. Finally, there is a partially blocked doorway in the centre of the chancel’s south wall The nave Being on the frontier between Gaelic Ireland and the Pale, Carlingford was often subject to attack, resulting in the fortification of the priory. Crenellations were added to the west wall and small towers built at the south-west and north-west corners of the nave. In the west wall there are the remains of a two-centred rounded arched window. There are three large windows in the northern side wall, with a smaller one higher up on the eastern end of this wall. There are also the remains of three small windows high up in the nave’s south wall. At the east end of the south wall there is a small niche with a high, narrow, inverted V-shaped arch. A series of square holes in the walls indicates that at some time there were wooden structures inside and outside this building—for example, to support the roof of the cloister walk on the south side, of which no other evidence is visible. The present entrance to the priory is from the street through an original arched doorway, surrounded by medieval stonework, in the west wall. Above this is a machicolation resting on two corbels, part of the later defensive works. The outline of a (blocked-up) window is also visible above this door. Above: View along the nave and chancel, looking east. Below: View of fortified portion of the nave, showing the crenellated west wall, a machicolation above the arched doorway and the added corner towers.

Top: View of the south wall of the church, showing large flat-headed window and doorways leading to nave and chancel. The external string-course along the western portion of the south wall marks the position of the cloister roof. The gable lines of the east range can be seen to the right of the south wall. Above: The central tower and the eastern gable, viewed from the west (Chris Corlett). The central tower The central tower is a later addition, probably dating from the first half of the fifteenth century. It is rectangular, with the remains of a stairwell in its south-east angle. It has two floor levels above the arch, with rectangular openings in the western and eastern façades at the lower level and in the upper at the west side. Access to the tower was gained from the first-floor level of the domestic range, which adjoined the south side of the chancel via a doorway (now blocked). There must also have been access to the chancel via stairs from the first-floor level and from the domestic range. A limestone corbel at the first-floor level indicates the former existence of a wooden gallery and stairs, which would have led to the choir. The rectangular openings would have been doorways giving entrance to the lofts over the nave and chancel. In the east and west walls of the tower can be seen the original line of roofs. Below the south side of the tower a doorway leads outside. Domestic dwellings Situated about 20m south of the main building are the remains of what would have been the priory’s domestic buildings, clearly consisting of two parts. The eastern part is butted against the remnants of the western building, indicating that it was added on at a later date (probably by Nicholas Bagenal). This eastern building is the one that resembles a tower-house and has a combination of slit and rectangular windows. The other half is what remains of the priory’s domestic range and consists only of the southern gable wall with the remnants of another wall at right angles to it, in which there is the lower half of a doorway. The Archaeological Survey of County Louth (1991, 236) states that the standing gable has ‘a window which was later converted into a fireplace’, although there is no sign of this now. Originally the domestic range would have extended northwards to join onto the chancel, fitting the standard pattern of a Dominican priory.

Page Text

dormitories, kitchen and so on. The church is built of limestone and greywacke. In the east wall of the chancel is a large opening that would once have contained a stained-glass window. There are three windows in the north wall and one in the south. Of the three windows in the north wall, two are open while the central one is blocked up.

The large opening in the south wall would also originally have housed a window. Unfortunately, time and weathering have left no indications of any moulding or carving on what remains of these windows. On the outside of the eastern window, however, there is some remaining decoration, including a carved stone head on the northern rim. Finally, there is a partially blocked doorway in the centre of the chancel’s south wall

The nave Being on the frontier between Gaelic Ireland and the Pale, Carlingford was often subject to attack, resulting in the fortification of the priory. Crenellations were added to the west wall and small towers built at the south-west and north-west corners of the nave. In the west wall there are the remains of a two-centred rounded arched window. There are three large windows in the northern side wall, with a smaller one higher up on the eastern end of this wall. There are also the remains of three small windows high up in the nave’s south wall. At the east end of the south wall there is a small niche with a high, narrow, inverted V-shaped arch.

A series of square holes in the walls indicates that at some time there were wooden structures inside and outside this building—for example, to support the roof of the cloister walk on the south side, of which no other evidence is visible. The present entrance to the priory is from the street through an original arched doorway, surrounded by medieval stonework, in the west wall. Above this is a machicolation resting on two corbels, part of the later defensive works. The outline of a (blocked-up) window is also visible above this door.

Above: View along the nave and chancel, looking east. Below: View of fortified portion of the nave, showing the crenellated west wall, a machicolation above the arched doorway and the added corner towers.

My Bookmarks

Skip to main content