The amazing Dunlewey Church of Ireland old church is a well known landmark in the Poisoned Glen area.
Its characteristic aspect is due to the material used to build it, white marble and blue quartzite.
Red bricks were used for the splaying of the windows.
The church was built by Jane Russel Smith as a memorial for her husband, James Russell, who died on September 2nd, 1848. The church was consecrated on September 1st 1853. James Russel was buried in a vault under the church floor.
The church is aligned to the east-southeast (100°), where there's a large pointed arch window. The inner walls have still the original plaster on them.
The floor was restored in 1987, the rest of the building was restored in 2005.
Next to the belfry tower there's the grave of Richard Lewis Crankshaw, owner of Dunlewey Estate, who died on November 29th, 1929. He was a Protestant but married a Catholic woman, Nellie, who is buried in the graveyard at the Sacred Heart Church in Moneybeg, about 2.7 km northwest (300°). Her grave was oriented so that she was able to look at her husband's grave.
It was about time that we took the time to visit this site. We saw it many times in the past years driving on the R251.
This church and its grounds were used as the location for the music video of Enya's song "Na Laetha Geal M'Oige" (1988).
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