About three kilometres north of Ardee, the ruined medieval church at Kildemock is one of the more unusual monuments in County Louth. The gable wall has shifted several feet inward from its original foundations — the kind of physical anomaly that inevitably generates legend. The site is freely accessible and easy to find, and the surrounding countryside gives a good sense of the flat, fertile farmland that makes County Louth one of Ireland's most productive agricultural counties.
Jumping Church of Kildemock
A story
The gable wall of the church is said to have jumped inward overnight in 1715, enclosing the grave of an excommunicated man that had been buried just outside the boundary. Whether this is folklore, a geological explanation, or something else entirely is still debated locally. The wall is visibly out of alignment with the foundations, which is the one thing nobody disputes.