Ballymartin Church Ridnfi 3 



found a deep deposit of what is usually described as of the 

 kitchen midden type. It consisted of wood fire remains contain 

 ing numerous bones of animals and I)roken pottery. There were 

 also hnnian bones in jilaces, evidently the remains of one or more 

 bodies that had been interred at a period much later than the 

 date of the kitchen midden. We also found one stone of a large 

 quern here. The midden remains were from 6 to IcS inches deep, 

 and extended considerably below the level of the bottom of the 

 foundations of the wall and the floor level of the Church, but not 

 undei' the wall ; they were piled against the inside of the wall, 

 thus proving that they were deposited subsequent to the building. 



The masonry of the walls is to a considerable extent dry 

 built, with eai'th between the stones, indicating a very early date. 

 It is very dangerous to come to dogmatic conclusions as to the 

 age of early stone built churches. Petrie discusses the sul)ject 

 very fully in his "Ecclesiastical Architectiu'e of Ireland Anterior 

 to the Anglo Norman Invasion," and O'Hanlon, in his "Life of 

 St. Malachy," refers to the matter in some detail without arriving 

 at any definite conclusion. Generally speaking, I think it may 

 be assumed that, except in the larger and more important 

 ecclesiastical centres, the great majoiity of churches in Ireland 

 prior to the tenth or eleventh century wei'C wooden sti'uctures. 

 If we assign the original date of Ballymartin stone .church 

 appr'oximately to the tenth century, we are probably fairly cor- 

 rect. That it was the successor of a more ancient church or even 

 pagan place of worship is not improbable from the discovery of 

 the two bodies buried, facing east, in a sitting position, under the 

 pillar stone. From the crudeness of some of the pottery found 

 in the priest's kitchen, I can hardly think the date of the stone 

 church can be very much later than the approximate date I 

 suggest. 



Many of the stones show evidence of having endured extreme 

 heat, while the ch.irred remains over the floor leveF prove that 

 the church was, at least once, burned. The absence of any sign 

 of fragments of slates or tilea proves that it was roofed wdth 



