The Standing Stone: Sleaty, Church and Crosses, Co. Laois.

After many months of absence I am glad to be back and contributing to this blog again after a turbulent end to 2010.

For this post I have selected a small church ruin North of Carlow town but inside County Laois. I particularly like this place because of the two early Christian crosses next to a much later ruin. You really get a sense of time here.


The original post can be read on 'The Standing Stone.'


Location – A few km north of Carlow town on the banks of the River Barrow.
OS: S 713 791 (map 61)
Longitude: 6° 56' 27.43" W
Latitude: 52° 51' 27.83" N
GPS: S 71327 79054 (Accuracy – 7m)
See map at the bottom of the page.

Description and History – The remains at Sleaty appear to be nothing out of the ordinary apart from the two early Christian crosses which betray its importance as the former residence of the Bishop of Leinster. This is a very early Christian foundation, of which only the two crosses remain. Associated with St. Fiacc the church is medieval in date, although some of the larger stones used in its construction may come from the earlier foundation. Large boulders were common in early Christian construction. The original monastery was on the other side of the river but when 60 monks died at the site (how I don’t know) it was moved to its present location. Aodh lived here in the 7th century who was one of the first biographers of St. Patrick. The last historical reference to the site is from 1055, after which the site lost importance.

The medieval church is largely ruined and a stone font (date unknown) sits inside. The smaller of the two crosses from the earlier foundation is roughly 1.5m high and is decorated with a rough ringed cross. It is badly eroded and barely visible now. The second cross is 2.8m high and is undecorated. I had seen photographs of this cross before and you can’t really appreciate its size until you see it for yourself.
This is a nice little site and well worth the trip.

Difficulty – Easy enough to get around but it is set back from the road and easy to drive by without seeing. There is no parking here.

The churchyard from the roadway.

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The Standing Stone: Oughaval Church, Carricksallagh, Co. Laois.

I hope you enjoy this article because this is one of the most unusual church ruins that I have been to. It really is fantastic. The original article on 'The Standing Stone' website links to glossary pages to explain whatever terms you may not be familiar with. I don't link to the glossary here so that you won't be directed away from this blog by mistake. A couple of people have asked me what certain terms mean so I thought I'd mention that. Hope you enjoy this ruin and now we are into the summer months it's a perfect time to go out and see these places.

Location – On the N80 just outside of Stradbally.
OS: S 582 957 (map 55)
Longitude: 7° 7' 58.25" W
Latitude: 53° 0' 31.99" N
See map at the bottom of the page.

Description and History – When I arrived here I was struck by the sheer size of this ruin and then by its unusualness. This church is quite odd but very striking and I spent much longer here than I usually would a church ruin. St Colman mac Ua Laoighse founded a monastery here in the 6th century but no remains of this foundation survive. St Colman was a follower of St Fintan of Clonenagh and St Columba of Iona before establishing his own monastery. The Lebor na Nuachongbála, or Book of Oughaval was kept here for many centuries and was later renamed the Book of Leinster.

The present remains date from the medieval period and has been through many subsequent phases of rebuilding, mostly at the hands of the local Cosby family who still own much land in this area. Because of the rebuilding the floor of the chancel is higher than that of the nave and the chancel has a huge barrel vaulted ceiling. It is cracked and may be in danger of collapse. The triple window in the E gable end is a later 19th century addition. The small chamber within the nave is the Cosby family vault. There is also a small vaulted chamber underneath the chancel and wall-walk on the N and S walls. This really is a wonderful church in a great location. It is unique.

Difficulty – Easy to get to and there is parking. It is a still functioning graveyard.

This article originally appeared on 'The Standing Stone' and can be found by clicking here.

Looking out of the window in the church.

This triple window is very nice and I'm sure is even better when the sun is shining through it.

The huge barrel vaulted ceiling.

The private burial chamber of the Cosby family.


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The Standing Stone: Roscomroe, Church, Holy Well and Rag Tree, Co. Offaly.

I've finally got maps sorted so you can see the exact location of the places. The satellite images over certain places in Ireland is not great but you should get an idea at least. This week we are turning to Offaly.

Location – West of Hardyman mountain in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.
OS: S 166 976 (map 54)
Longitude: 7° 45' 9.2" W
Latitude: 53° 1' 43.91" N
See map at the bottom of the page.

Description and History – This site is somewhat frustrating in that I couldn’t really find anything out about its history. The present remains of the church are medieval but it is believed that this was built on a much earlier Christian foundation which is attributed to St Molua and to whom the nearby holy well is attributed. St Molua is also associated with and allegedly buried at Kyle in Co. Laois. The remains of the medieval church consist of the West gable end and portions of the N and S wall. The surviving gable stands to full height with portions of the bellcote remaining. It really is a very attractive ruin within a nicely kept graveyard.

The holy well sits in the field to the rear of the graveyard. It can be accessed via a gate next to the entrance to the graveyard. The field can be a little boggy but it’s well worth making your way there because it is a nice little well. The enclosure is modern but very nicely done with the face of the saint represented on the face of the well which is very similar to Cumber Upper which is also in Offaly. The rag tree sits next to the well and only has a few rags attached to it. I get the impression that this well is not widely used but somebody is going to the effort of keeping it well maintained which is really great to see. When you see holy wells like Anatrim in Laois, which is barely identifiable, this is a nice sight.

Difficulty – The church is right on the side of the road with plenty of space for parking. The well is a little harder to get to depending on the weather as it can get boggy.

This post originally appeared on 'The Standing Stone' and can be accessed by clicking here.



I love the shape of this Church. The ruined bellcote gives it an unusual shape I think.


Looking at the ruin from the other side.


The holy well in the adjacent field. I think this has been tastefully done.

The face of the saint.

You can see some of the rags tied to the branches of the tree here.

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The Standing Stone: The Nurney Crosses, Co. Carlow.

Location – In the small village or Nurney, about 5km E of Leighlinbridge.
OS: S 734 673 (map 61)
Longitude: 6° 54' 43.01" W
Latitude: 52° 45' 5.95" N
GPS: S 73459 67280 (Accuracy: 8m)

Description and History – I stopped here on the spur of the moment. I was actually heading somewhere else when I spotted the dots on the map and decided to make the detour and I was glad that I did. Although there isn’t a huge amount to see here what is there is very interesting. As you enter the yard of a relatively modern church it appears to be nothing special but then you begin to notice that this site stretches back into history. As you approach the church you notice the head of a simple cross. It is relatively small and very weathered but clearly very old and probably an early example of an Irish high cross. The edges of the cross have been moulded but there is little evidence of other decoration. It must have been a plain cross. As you move around to the rear of the church yard you are greeted by the site of a complete early Christian wheeled cross. It stands nearly 2.5m high and is just outside the churchyard in the neighbouring field. Unfortunately there were a lot of interested cattle in the field so I couldn’t get too close to it which is a shame as I would like to have seen the reverse side. The cross is big and chunky and you can definitely see how the later high crosses grew out of this style of design. I would like to see this cross moved into the church yard and away from the cattle in case it gets damaged. Luckily it doesn’t appear to have been used as a scratching post by the cattle. There is also a cross base in this field that I was unable to locate because I couldn’t get into the field to have a good look around...but that gives me an excuse to back.

Difficulty – Easy to get to and find. Mind the cattle in the field to the rear.

This post originally appeared on 'The Standing Stone' and can be found here.

The modern Church of Ireland church.


The smaller cross. It may have been originally painted which would explain why it is so plain.

This is the complete cross which we are lucky to have today. As you can see the cattle were beginning to gather so I stayed on the other side of the wall from them.

The Standing Stone: Old Leighlin Cathedral, Co. Carlow.

Location – In the village of Old Leighlin about 3km West of Leighlinbridge just North of the Madlin River.

OS: S 659 654 (map 61)
Longitude: 7° 1' 27.55" W
Latitude: 52° 44' 9.8" N
GPS: S 65896 65436 (Accuracy – 4m)

Description and History – When I looked this site up in the Archaeological Inventory for County Carlow I was not prepared for what I would see...this church is still used. I’m so used to finding a pile of ruins in a field somewhere that this was a welcome surprise. The only part that is ruined is the surviving transept. The rest is still a functioning church with a very interesting history. I'm not from Carlow so most of you who are from the Kildare and Leighlin diocese will probably know much more about this place so please correct me if I am wrong about anything and feel free to tell me about anything extra that you know.

A Benedictine monastery was founded at Old Leighlin in the 7th century AD by St Gobban and St Molaise (also known as St Laserian) succeeded him as abbot of the monastery. Some sources say that Molaise was the brother of Gobban. Molaise allegedly died in an act of self sacrifice when he removed a hair from St Sillan’s eyebrow which caused death to anybody who saw it. Molaise died in c. 639 and his feast day is celebrated on 18th April with a service in the church and a parade to the nearby holy well. Molaise was foreshadowed by a vision of his Gobban’s. Gobban was said to have seen angels hovering over Old Leighlin who foresaw the arrival of a man who would gather ‘God’s servants’ to the monastery. This prophecy was fulfilled in Molaise’s lifetime and by the time he died there was somewhere in the region of 1500 monks at the monastery. Oldl Leighlin them became an Episcopal See and Molaise its first bishop. The monastery was selected as the site of a synod in 630AD to settle the dispute between Ireland and Rome over when Easter should be celebrated. It was decided to adopt the Roman method for determining Easter. The diocese of Leighlin was created in 1111AD and at the synod of Rathbreasail. The diocese was combined with Kildare in 1694.

The original church buildings, which were wooden, burnt down in c. 1060AD and just under a century later work on the stone building began and was completed by the end of the 13th century. The remains of the nave and chancel are all that remains of this phase of building and are now incorporated in to the 16th century rebuilding when the transepts and tower were added. One transept is now missing and the other is ruined. The surrounding graveyard is equally as fascinating as the church and contains many ornate gravestones dating from the 17th century onwards. Also located in the graveyard is the base of a high cross. This really is a lovely site to visit and is well maintained and seems to have fallen right out of a postcard.


Difficulty – Easy to find and get around.

The original post can be found at 'The Standing Stone' and can be seen here.



This the sight that greets you on the way into the graveyard. It's a wonderful spot.

This is the first view of the Cathedral you get.

Sorry about the sun in this shot. Here you can see the tower and ruined transept.

Blocked up window in the transept.

Lovely window on the East wall.

Ruined transept

This is the base of the high cross that is located in the graveyard.