Two churches, one name
Ask in Ballymote for Emlaghfad Church and you could be pointed to either of two very different buildings. One is a roofless medieval ruin on a low hill just outside the town, wrapped in an old graveyard. The other is the active Church of Ireland parish church of 1818, spire and all, down in the town centre on Lord Edward Street. They share a name and a parish but stand the better part of a kilometre and several centuries apart, and guides have a long habit of running them together. If you’re here for atmosphere and old stones, it’s the ruin you want.
The old church and graveyard
The medieval church is the older Emlaghfad, and the more rewarding to walk. It survives as a roofless shell with a square three-storey tower, set in a graveyard whose earliest legible headstone is dated 1709. The name itself, recorded over the centuries as Imblech-foda and Emlyfad, points to a religious foundation here well before that. Tradition holds that St Colmcille founded a monastery on the site for his disciple Enna, son of Nuadhain, one node in the network of early Christian settlements across County Sligo. Nothing above ground survives from that period, but the continuity of use is the point. People have prayed and buried their dead on this hill for a very long time.
The Ballymote Heritage Group starts several of its local walks here, and the Sligo Community Archaeology Programme has run visits to the church and graveyard. Worth timing a trip around if you can, because a guide turns a field of old stones into a story.
The parish church of 1818
Down in the town, the building most maps label ‘Emlaghfad Church’ is the Church of Ireland parish church, built in 1818 to replace the older place of worship and still in use. It’s a cruciform stone church with a three-bay nave, transepts and chancel, and a two-stage castellated tower to the west topped by the octagonal spire that acts as a town landmark. This is the one on the Buildings of Ireland record.
The stonework is local limestone: coursed squared rubble on a battered plinth, ashlar strings and corbelled pinnacles at the parapets, pitched slate roofs with clay ridge tiles. The pointed-arch windows were replaced around 1990 with stained Y-tracery timber casements. Inside, a memorial plaque to Sir Robert Gore-Booth of Lissadell ties the parish to one of the county’s big landed families. As a working church, the interior isn’t reliably open outside service times, so treat the exterior and the setting as the visit unless you’ve checked ahead.
Visiting
- Access – The town church has level access through a side gate; the graveyard paths are even enough but go soft after rain. The old church stands in a field and is best in dry weather and stout shoes.
- Parking – Free on-street parking on Lord Edward Street and Emmet Street, with paid public car parks nearby. Both fill quickly on market days, so come early.
- Public transport – Ballymote is on the main Sligo–Dublin railway line, and Local Link route 977 (Sligo to Castlerea via Ballaghaderreen) stops in the town. The station and bus stop are a short walk from the town church.
- Etiquette – The 1818 church is an active place of worship. Dress respectfully, keep your voice down, and don’t intrude on services or private commemorations.
Genealogy and records
Parish registers for Emlaghfad, covering baptisms, marriages and burials from the early 19th century, are held at Sligo County Library and the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Microfilm copies and digitised extracts can be consulted, and they’re a regular first stop for anyone tracing family lines in south Sligo. Local historical societies occasionally run workshops on reading early church records.
Nearby
- Ballymote Castle – The town’s medieval castle, a short walk from the parish church.
- Carrowkeel – A cluster of Neolithic passage tombs in the Bricklieve Mountains, roughly 12 km away. Pair it with the old church for a half-day of ancient Sligo.