A VISIT TO TEMPLEMOYLE MONASTIC SETTLEMENT

Mr. Martin T. Kelly (former Principal) together with some pupils dating a headstone in Templemoyle graveyard by means of rubbings.

A School Visit to Templemoyle Monastic Settlement and Graveyard.
Templemoyle`s first ever church is said to be over 1400 years old. It was made of wood, but as it was made of wood, none of it stands today, because it probably decayed over time. After the wooden church disappeared, a stone church was built in its place. The stone church measured about 20 metres in length and 8 metres in width. Over a long period of time, most of the stone church fell down, except for one wall - the south facing wall - which still stands today.

In Pensive Mood at Templemoyle.

We do not know a great deal about the inside of the church but it is said that the altar was built in the east side because the monks liked the sun to shine into the church on Easter Sunday morning. The entrance was on the west side of the church.

In Deep Concentration at Templemoyle
The churche's name is also of interest. Years ago Templemoyle is said to have been called Teampallmael which means Mael`s Temple or Tempallmaol which means the bald church. This may mean that the church did not have a roof but no one knows for certain what the true meaning is.

On the way to Templemoyle there are many small hills. On the top of these sand hills the monkes were laid to rest. Their graves were on top of these small hills. In 1979 an old bell was found by Gerry Rabbit who was then a pupil in St. Oliver Plunkett National School. The bell he found is called the Templemoyle Bell. It is dated between 600 A.D. - 900 A.D. The Bell was discovered in a sand hill in Rabbit’s land near Templemoyle graveyard. The Bell did not decay over the years because it was made of iron and dipped in bronze, all those years ago, to protect it. The Bell was found near a headstone on one of the small hills near Templemoyle. Written on the headstone were the words "Pray for Maol Poill" - in latin. Some people think that maol could have been an abbot of the monastery and that this was his Bell. When the Bell was found it was brought into the museum in Galway and was then sent on to the National Museum of Ireland where it was preserved and placed in the Bell room in the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St. Dublin.

The oldest grave that can be found in Templemoyle today is dated 1802. On some of the headstones you will find carved images of saws, hammers and chalices as a sign of the deceased person's tradesmanship.

This account of Templemoyle was contributed by Donna, a pupil in sixth class.