Old Clonduff Church and Graveyard, Kilkeel Rd, Hilltown, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5XY

Old Clonduff Church and Graveyard stands at the junction of the Kilkeel and Clonduff roads near Hilltown. The site comprises a rectangular churchyard to the east of this junction, containing the ruins of a church aligned west to east and numerous gravestones of historical significance.

The church itself is rectangular in plan, constructed of uncoursed rubble fieldstone with walls approximately one metre thick. The west wall survives to about one metre high, the north wall to around half a metre, and the south wall to approximately two metres, though it is unstable with a collapsed outer skin and traces of lime plaster visible internally. The east end terminates in a full gable that steps inward towards the top on its inner face. Both north and south ends of this gable have partially collapsed. Putlog holes are visible on the internal face of the gable. At its centre is a large rectangular window opening with splayed reveals and a cill positioned approximately one and a half metres above ground level.

The churchyard contains numerous memorials dating mainly from the 19th century, distributed to the west, south and east of the church. Of particular historical note is a finely dressed sandstone slab laid flat against the outside of the east gable. Its head bears a coat of arms and its edges are dressed with an ogee mould. The inscription, now partially illegible, records two burials: Captain Arthur Magenis, who departed this life on the 15th day of anno domini 1737, and his wife Catherine Magenis (formerly Hall), who departed on the 12th day of December 1713. Beside this slab lies a broken memorial of similar size bearing a small polished black granite panel inscribed "J O'Neill / Patron of the INF / Hilltown". An upright schist slab nearby commemorates the Reverend Hugh McMullan, Doctor in Divinity and late Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, who died on 7 October 1794 aged 74 years. At the southeast corner stands a narrow, roughly dressed granite slab inscribed with the name Patrick McBoywl, recorded as departed on March 6, 1764. Additional granite memorials are located within the church ruins.

The church is recorded as ruinous on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map. According to the Archaeological Survey of County Down, this was the parish church of Clondyme (Cluain Daimh) or Clonduff, believed to date from the 16th or 17th century. Historical records indicate it was once owned by the Abbey of Bangor, and an antique chalice was excavated from the site in 1832. The church served as the burial place of John and Felix O'Neill, who died in 1809 and are believed to be descendants in the male line of the O'Neills of Ulster. Their gravestone is marked with the coat of arms of the O'Neills. The church was abandoned following the erection of St John's Church of Ireland, Hilltown, in 1762.