The first edition of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, created during the mid-19th century mapping of Ireland, carefully recorded this structure as an ‘Old Church’, suggesting it had already fallen into disuse by that time. Even then, the building was considered a relic of an earlier age, its congregation long dispersed and its walls beginning their slow surrender to the elements.

By the time surveyors returned to create the second edition of the OS map, the church had vanished entirely from the landscape. Whether it collapsed naturally, was dismantled for building materials, or simply crumbled away is lost to history; such was the fate of many rural Irish churches that couldn’t withstand the combined forces of weather, abandonment, and the practical needs of local communities who often recycled old stonework for new construction projects.

Today, the site has been completely built over, with no visible trace of the church that once served the people of Ballyheerin. This transformation from sacred ground to modern development reflects a common pattern across rural Ireland, where countless small churches and religious sites have disappeared beneath fields, roads, and buildings. The church’s existence is now preserved only in historical maps and archaeological records, compiled as part of Donegal County Council’s comprehensive survey of the county’s field antiquities, which documented sites ranging from prehistoric monuments to 17th-century structures.