In the last week, important conservation work on the Old Killaghtee Church ruins at Spamount, Dunkineely, has been completed.
According to the Donegal Genealogy website, the old church was built about 1118 and was used as a place of Christian worship up until about 1720.
“We are really pleased to see the conclusion of this renovation work, which will see the site protected for the future,” a spokesperson for Dunkineely Community Ltd said.
“It would not have been possible without the Adopt a Monument Group who set out to make this happen. A real joint effort by local churches, land owners, tidy towns and Dunkineely Community Ltd. We now turn our attention to the Killaghtee Cross in the graveyard of the church. We will be monitoring the effects of weather erosion on the stone from 650 AD, and finding ways to preserve it.”
The before and after photos show the work done to extensively replace lost mortar,
replace a critical arch stone and support a collapsing wall.
The latest works, carried out by Triur Construction and overseen by Dedalus Architecture, was made possible by a grant obtained by Dunkineely Community Ltd from the Community Monument Fund.
The work was carried out using reconstructed materials of the time, and original stones from the church and walls. Walls and windows were made safe, ensuring the structure will continue to stand for future generations. Plant life has been trimmed back and voids filled, again with materials sympathetic to the time it was built.
This has been a major local project, led by the local Adopt-a Monument group, and supported by Dunkineely Community Ltd. The group paid a big thank you to their project manager, Iseult O’Clery, Conservation Architect Duncan McLaren, Archeologist Richard Crumlish, Triur Construction, the Heritage Council and Donegal County Council.