St Kerrills Abbey
Community Monuments Fund 2022
B. Doherty
Gurteen Community Council were successful in their application to fund capital works at St. Kerrill’s Abbey, Cloonkeenkerrill. Following the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan in 2021, works started at the site Autumn 2022.
Heritage Specialists
Local stone masons, Stankard Stone were deployed to carry out the intrinsic and specialised work to the tracery window and main body of the church. This involved pinning and repointing where necessary. Close inspection revealed obvious gaps in the masonry. Works were overseen by 7L Architects and Kinvara Consult Engineering. Archaeological monitoring was carried out by Dominic Delany. An initial pre-works survey was carried out by Pat Roberts, MKO Ltd for birds and bats.
Architectural Features
Many interesting features on the site include St. Kerrill’s Bed, a coffin rest with a re-used carved head which was once a corbel. Bishop Kelly’s Tomb with his pet cat carved into it and An effigy to Bishop Kelly, Digital 3D Photogrammetery was carried out at the site to record an array of features. The windows alone are a marvel and being able to access them during works was a privilage.
Wall collapse
The mortar within the walls was so strong that when the wall collapsed into the adjoining field it actually stayed together in large blocks. These have been catalogued and inspection shall reveal whether these may be re-used in future works. Gurteen Community Council are very grateful to the landowner for access to facilitate the works.
Tracery Window
This very ambitious project sees the tracery window exposed in full light. Works were carried out under Ministerial Consent. The Community Monuments Fund is provided by the National Monuments Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and administered through Galway County Council.
Galway Community Archaeology project is funded by Galway County Council & The Heritage Council
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