Ruins of the Old Church of Ballinascreen

Not many people may realise that our oldest building in Sixtowns is the Old Church of Moneyconey.

This building was designed with an added residential facility for religious people who were either attached to the church or who were visitors to it. If you take a look around the interior of the walls of the building, you will notice hole s or gaps in the stone walls which supported beams of a loft or some type of interior structure which represented the living quarters. We know that this building was always occupied, because it held the valuable manuscripts there which needed to be guard. Various religious orders have occupied this place down through the centuries, yet we do not have a lot of information regarding its social history. We do know that over time the place was sacked several times but was always restored right up until 1600 AD. After the Flight of Earls in 1607, the building was more or less abandoned. However the roof remained intact up into the early 1700s. The present building is still a fine old stone ruin and is maintained by the Department of Ancient Monuments and Buildings.

For a history of this famous old building, type Religion into the search bar of the website menu page.