Sheepstown Church

In a small walled graveyard in the fields beside the R699 near Knocktopher, Sheepstown Church is a rare survivor from the 12th or early 13th century, when Ireland's monasteries were giving way to a system of dioceses and parishes, which makes it one of the country's earliest parish churches. Dedicated to St Muicín, a bishop who lived around 630, it is a modest Hiberno-Romanesque building just fifteen metres by seven, its plain west doorway picked out only by a subtle beaded moulding that is repeated on the four corners. A corbel on the north-west corner is known locally as the Clock Stone and may once have served as the pointer of a sundial. Built into the ruined north wall is a fragment of a cloister column from Jerpoint Abbey, carved with a two-bodied winged creature whose clawed tails spiral towards each other. Reviewers warn that it is easy to drive past; a signposted grass path crosses the field from the road to the graveyard gate.