Monument In Dunmullan Old Church, Dunmullan Road, Omagh, Co. Tyrone

A carved stone memorial set into the south transept wall of Dunmullan Old Church, a ruined rural stone church built around 1650 and aligned west to east with a south transept. The church and its grounds, situated on a raised plot enclosed by a stone boundary wall to the east side of Dunmullan Road, are protected by scheduling.

The church is constructed of random rubble stone set in lime mortar and is now roofless with substantial ivy growth. Cut stone bi-partite round-headed chamfered window reveals survive in the east gable and transept gable. The west gable contains a triangular-headed door opening with an internal brick head, surmounted by a window opening. The transept arch remains intact, composed of rubble stone voussoirs. The interior retains several gravemarkers, and the gables are set with sockets. Architectural detail indicates the presence of late medieval dressings, though the main fabric dates to the seventeenth century.

The original memorial plaque of which the record refers could not be traced during survey. A rectangular recess to the interior may mark its former position. The memorial probably dates to the late seventeenth century and was, unusually, dedicated to a sow. Local tradition records that during the 1641 Rebellion a baby was abandoned when the family fled the district. Upon their eventual return, the child was found alive, having been suckled by a sow alongside her own piglets.

The church first appears on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map as "Old Church" with a T-plan. By the second edition of 1855 it is captioned "Cappagh Church (in ruins)" with "Grave Yard" marked. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of the 1830s describe an old church of which no person could provide information, though the churchyard was noted to contain tombs estimated at 200 years old with inscriptions in raised character. The Diocesan History records that the church was much defaced by King James's Army. Mitchell suggests the building may have replaced an older church dating to the late Middle Ages. Catholics are said to have worshipped here until 1609, after which it was used by Church of Ireland parishioners until 1770, when the new Cappagh Parish Church was completed. The cemetery was used by both Catholics and Protestants for a considerable period.

The surrounding graveyard contains a variety of slab tombs, chest tombs and headstones set amidst yew trees. The site is enclosed by a retaining rubble stone boundary wall with later cement-rendered coping. Access from the west is via a pair of wrought-iron gates supported on squared rubble stone piers with soldier coping. The church is set in open farmland. A bell associated with this parish, the Cappagh Bell, is held in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.