Derry is a
townland in the
civil parish of
Ballyphilip in the
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of
Ards Upper
Ards Upper (named after the former barony of Ards) is a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the southern half of the Ards Peninsula in the east of the county, with the Irish Sea to its east and Strangford Lough to its west. It is ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, in
Northern Ireland. It is near
Portaferry on the
Ards Peninsula
The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on the peninsula include Donaghadee, Millisle ...
. The townland has remains of two small ruined churches.
Churches
There is written evidence of pre-
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
religious activity on the site, associated with
Saint Cumman, a female saint named in the ''
Martyrology of Óengus
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by n ...
''. There was a chapel there in 1306.
The churches are 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-east of Portaferry, east of the
A2 road to
(on the Tullymally Road), at grid ref: J613 524.
Both churches are made of shale slabs bonded with clay and date from the 10th to 12th centuries.
The south church is smaller and earlier, has
antae to the east and west, a west door and east and south windows. Clay was originally used to bind the stone and there are holes in the walls for timbers or scaffolding poles. Some medieval alterations to the door and the east window used mortar. A 10th- or 11th-century date is possible, although other sources have suggested a 12th-century date.
The north church is larger, again built using clay rather than mortar, with a south door, an east window and possibly a tower on the west end. A small early cross-carved stone is set in this church.
This church is unlikely to be earlier than the 12th century.
There is also a grave-slab featuring a simple Latin cross formed by two lines of three parallel grooves.
Excavations
Excavations in 1962 indicated
Early Christian
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
occupation and a cemetery of stone built graves under the churches. Under the south church was an earlier building of stone and timber (drystone walling reinforced by timber uprights, possibly in two phases), perhaps another church. Conservation included straightening a leaning wall of the south church and replacing the original clay bonding.
The cemetery found underlying the churches, contained burials of men, women and children, not just adult males as might be expected from a monastic community.
References
Sources
*
*
Citations
{{reflist
External links
Irish Antiquities - Photographs of Derry Churches
Townlands of County Down
Archaeological sites in County Down
Buildings and structures in County Down
Religion in County Down
Portaferry