8 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Hidden 13th-century carving of ‘face of Christ’ discovered in Ballymore, Ireland

At Ballymore, in the county of Westmeath, Ireland, sunlight led to an interesting and special discovery.

The sunlight revealed that what was previously thought to be a simple 13th-century building block had been carved with what appeared to be a face. And that face seems likely to be the face of Christ.

The discovery was made by local historian Seamus McDermott, who went out with his camera to photograph old headstones.

“There was a survey done in the graveyard some years back, in the mid-1990s, and they found this store that was part of an ogee window of the 13th-century church that was on the site,” says Seamus McDermott, explaining that the find was made in the grounds of the ruined St Owen’s Church of Ireland church in Ballymore.

Last year, an archaeologist who saw the stone as part of a restoration effort by a local committee at St Owen’s site confirmed that the stone did indeed appear to be a remnant from a window of that early church.

The carved stone is believed to have been part of an ogee window that was part of a 13th-century church on the site.

Last week, while photographing the gravestones in the strong sunlight, Seamus decided to take a picture of the piece of window stone, which measures approximately 12 inches by 8 inches.

“I moved it out from where it was and I was taking photographs of it – and then, whatever way the sun suddenly caught the side of the stone, the face showed up,” he says.

Seamus said that the stone had been looked at many times, including by archaeologists, but no one noticed the face. He believes the carving to be that of the face of Christ.

The church from which the stone emanated is one of three known to have existed at one time or other on the St Owen’s site. That 13th-century church was recorded in old manuscripts. But the exact location of the church was unknown.

“We did find that part of an old building on the west side of the existing church ruin, a very small building, which could have been an oratory,” says Seamus.

“So this small enclosure that we found, had a semicircular doorway, if you like, just outside, so that was probably possibly the 13th century church.”

The carving is on the sloped aspect on the left side of this stone, which formed the top of the ogee window.
The carving is on the sloped aspect on the left side of this stone, which formed the top of the ogee window.

On the Down Survey maps, a later church – presumably 16th century – can be seen, and the existing ruin is St Owen’s, erected in 1827 on the foundations of the 16th-century structure. Fragments of a window of the 16th-century church also exist.

According to Seamus, the graveyard’s oldest stone dates from the early 1600s, and 190 of the 220 gravestones listed appear to be those of deceased Catholics.

St Owen’s received a grant of 85,000 thousand euros from the Heritage Council and restoration of the tower will begin in July. But the tower is not the only place in the building that needs to be done! So we hope this beautiful building receives more grants and regains its former beauty as soon as possible.

Related Articles

Chinese Paleontologists discovered a 170-million-year-old flower

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Chinese paleontologists discovered fossils of an ancient plant dating back approximately 170 million years. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing...

Rare Five Bronze Age Axes found in the Forests of Poland

5 December 2023

5 December 2023

Archaeologists in Poland have discovered five Bronze Age axes in Starogard Forest District, located in Kociewie. A metal detectorist named...

200,000-year-old hand axe discovered in the northern part of Saudi Arabia

5 November 2023

5 November 2023

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) of Saudi Arabia has announced that archeological excavation teams at the Qurh site in...

Climate and Archaic humans caused the extinction of giant camels that lived in Mongolia 27,000 years ago, a study says

3 April 2022

3 April 2022

Camelus knoblochi, a species of giant two-humped camel, survived in Mongolia alongside modern humans—and perhaps Neanderthals and Denisovans—until about 27,000...

A New Study: The Great Sphinx of Giza may have been blown into shape by the wind

1 November 2023

1 November 2023

The theory, occasionally raised by others, that the Great Sphinx of Giza may have been a lion-shaped natural landform that...

3000-year-old clay figurine discovered in Germany may be a prehistoric water goddess

14 July 2022

14 July 2022

Archaeologists have discovered a rare clay figurine thought to represent a prehistoric water goddess in the Schweinfurt region of Germany....

Oregon may be home to oldest human occupied site in North America

12 July 2023

12 July 2023

Where and when the first humans appeared in North America is a contentious issue that many disagree on, and this...

Underground Tunnels Discovered in Cusco, Reviving Inca Legends

31 January 2025

31 January 2025

Underground tunnels, long rumored in local legends, have been discovered beneath Cusco, Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire....

New Huge Viking-age boat grave discovered by Radar in Norway

12 April 2022

12 April 2022

Archaeologists have located a boat grave from the Viking Age near Øyesletta in Norway during a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey....

A 3300-year-old seal and a dagger/sword reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were discovered in the Heart of western Anatolia

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

A unique 3300-year-old seal and a sword/dagger reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were unearthed during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı...

The University of Aberdeen is to Return a Benin Bronze

5 April 2021

5 April 2021

Since Nigeria gained independence in 1960, Nigeria has been calling for the return of stolen Benin bronzes (including brass reliefs,...

A mysterious lead tablet with an unknown 13th-14th-century script: Might be an old Lithuanian script?

26 February 2024

26 February 2024

In the Museum of the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius, Lithuania, a mysterious lead tablet dating back to...

In the Black Sea, there is a “Ship Graveyard” with 2,500 years of wrecked ships

15 February 2022

15 February 2022

The Black Sea is the inland sea lying between Europe and Asia. Blacksea is located in Eurasia, surrounded by Europe,...

Monumental Roman complex discovered in France

19 March 2023

19 March 2023

In the city of Reims in northeastern France, archaeologists have discovered an ancient Roman-era monumental complex dating from the 2nd...

Detectorist Finds 2,500-Year-Old Unique Bronze Brooch

26 August 2024

26 August 2024

A metal detectorist, who chose to remain anonymous, uncovered three artifacts, including a massive fibula, i.e. a bronze brooch dating...