432 



the arrangement of the windows and door, are characteristic of medieval 

 churches. 



In plan this church is quadrangular, measuring about 49 feet by 20. 

 The doorway, which is flat-headed with converging sides, has two lintels, 

 one above the other, with an intervening row of small stones, and is 

 placed near the centre of the north wall ; its sides midway are deeply 

 revealed, showing that the door was fastened from within ,• the east gable 

 is pierced by a long, narrow, flat-headed window loop, widely splayed 

 within, but very slightly so without. A similarly formed window loop 

 occurs in the north and south wall, near the east gable. The peculiar form 

 of these windows, which are quite unlike those of any other old church 

 I have ever seen, has evidently been suggested by the east window of the 

 stone oratory at Kilmalkedar. The v/est gable is pierced by a small an- 

 gular loop at the height of six or eight feet from the ground, which I 

 have every reason to think lighted that portion of the west end of the 

 church set apart as the residence of the officiating ecclesiastic. A mortar 

 of shelly sand and mud has been sparingly used in the construction of 

 this church. 



Ho. 13. — Enlarged view of the exterior of the doorway of the old 

 church of Ballineanig. 



1^0. 14. — Two views, internal and external, of the east window of 

 the same church. 



'No. 15. — The Font at EaUineanig old church, with its original stone 

 dish — view and section. 



No. 16. — Plan of the old church of Ballineanig. 



No. 17. — Yiew, looking N. E., of the old church of Kilmalkedar, 

 county of Xerry, showing the present position of the ancient cross, and the 

 peculiar form of most of the smaller headstones in the grave-yard. On 

 this form I shall not at present make any remarks, as it will furnish the 

 subject of a paper for a future occasion. 



Erom the general plan and style of ornamentation of the old church 

 of Kilmalkedar, there is little doubt but that it is of the 1 2th century, 

 as it exhibits sundry features closely resembling those of the architecture 

 of Cormac's Chapel at Cashel. The west gable has square pilasters at 

 either angle, produced by the prolongation of the side walls. The roof 

 was originally of stone, and at its springing the pilasters are capped by 

 several flat bands or fillets, after the fashion of some of the Saxon churches 

 in England ; the side walls of the church and the faces of the pilasters 

 are inclined, but the west gable is perpendicular. 



The doorway, which is flat-headed, but surrounded externally hj two 

 semicircular arches, is in the west gable, and is decorated with the 

 ordinary zig-zag ornament, and surmounted by a heavy and beaded drip 

 moulding, springing from heads which very much resemble those of sheep ; 

 the keystone of the drip is carved to represent a human head without 

 hair, beard, or moustache, very possibly the portrait of "Kedar the Bald," 

 as the name of the church would imply. 



The tjmipanum is plain externally, and formed of a single massive 

 flag. 



