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Ardkeen church is a medieval ecclesiastical site located in the Ards peninsula of County Down, Northern Ireland. The church and its associated graveyard occupy a position on Silurian sedimentary bedrock, the ancient foundation of this coastal landscape. The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 7283.
The site comprises the ruins of the medieval church structure together with the graveyard that served the local community. Two stone coffin lids survive at the site, carved from the local stone that overlies the Paleozoic bedrock. These coffin lids are significant artefacts of medieval burial practice and suggest the long period over which the site functioned as a place of Christian burial.
Ardkeen exemplifies the dispersed pattern of medieval ecclesiastical settlement characteristic of the Ards peninsula. Such sites often developed around early monastic foundations or parish churches, becoming focal points for Christian worship and burial that sometimes extended their use across several centuries. The survival of the physical remains, including the coffin lids, provides evidence of the religious and social structures of medieval Ulster.
Ardkeen church. church & graveyard & coffin lids (2) is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 7283. View the official record →
Ardkeen church is a medieval ecclesiastical site located in the Ards peninsula of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 7283.
Ardkeen church. church & graveyard & coffin lids (2) dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a ecclesiastical site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Ardkeen church. church & graveyard & coffin lids (2) is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 7283.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Old court. tower (6.9 km), Ballytrustan. medieval church & graveyard (7.3 km), Old castle ward. tower-house (7.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Ardkeen church. church & graveyard & coffin lids (2)'s history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Ardkeen church. church & graveyard & coffin lids (2) stands on Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, bedrock that formed in the Silurian. The rock here is sedimentary rocks.