CORK COUNTY COUNCIL HERITAGE ASSET SURVEY Ballyvourney Church and Cemetery

In 2014 Rubicon Heritage were commissioned by Cork County Council to undertake an audit of heritage assets owned by the County Council. The audit was intended to assess a wide variety of these properties by providing an overall background/description of the selected sites and identifying the main heritage characteristics and status/functionality of each. We have compiled a series of blogs based on the information gathered during the audit to highlight a number of the selected sites and the amazing archaeology in County Cork. Our first site is Ballyvourney Church and Cemetery. 

​Ballyvourney Church and associated Cemetery are located in the contiguous villages of Ballymakeery/Ballyvourney, approximately 15km north-west of Macroom on the N22. Ballymakeery/Ballyvourney are the largest settlements located within the Muskerry Gaeltacht. Both settlements are situated within the Sullane River Valley and much of the area is designated as part of an extensive area of scenic landscape; the Gearagh and St. Gobnait’s Woodlands are designated as a proposed Natural Heritage Area, Special Protection Area and candidate SAC. St. Gobnait’s Wood incorporates a number of walkways which lead to Ballyvourney Church and Cemetery. According to local tradition, the ruins of Ballyvourney parish church, known as Teampall Ghobnatan, stand on the site of St. Gobnait's Convent. 

​The church comprises a nave of High Medieval date, with a later chancel added at the eastern end. Within the nave a human figure is carved in false relief, which may be a sheela-na-gig. On the western face of the east gable of the nave, a worn carved human head projects. This was probably once a voussoir in a 12th-century Romanesque arch. The head is known locally as 'an gadaidhe dubh'. The interior of the church is now filled with 18th, 19th and 20th-century burials. The church is part of a pilgrimage route, with five stations located about the ruin. There is a former Church of Ireland parish church situated at the north side of the graveyard which surrounds Ballyvourney. It was constructed in 1824 and comprises a small rectangular neo-Gothic church, with an embattled tower at its western end. A well-maintained and frequently visited Holy Well dedicated to St. Gobnait is located c. 60m south of Ballyvourney graveyard. The Well marks the final station in the St. Gobnait's pilgrimage, where 'water is taken, and a series of Paters, Aves and Glorias are said'. Votive offerings surround the well and cups hang from a rack.

18th, 19th and 20th century burials within the Medieval church