Survey Data
Reg No
31803009
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Archaeological, Artistic, Cultural, Social, Technical
Original Use
Graveyard/cemetery
In Use As
Graveyard/cemetery
Date
1770 - 1780
Coordinates
189948, 312189
Date Recorded
30/07/2003
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Roman Catholic cemetery, c.1775, enlarged, repaired and consecrated in 1858 by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ardagh. Established on the site of a fourteenth-century church, the remains of which are located to the centre of the graveyard. Variety of upright and recumbent grave markers dating from eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Several graves within church ruins, including the remains of Turlough O' Carolan. Site extended to east with modern graves. Random coursed sandstone and limestone boundary wall. Tooled sandstone entrance arch, erected in 1858 by Lady Louisa Tenison, with inscribed plaques to front and rear of arch and wrought-iron gate.
Appraisal
This site has been a focus of religious activity for many centuries with the remains of the fourteenth-century church on the grounds. The various designs and decoration of the grave markers add an artistic and technical interest. Of cultural note is the grave of Turlough O' Carolan, the most celebrated Irish bard who died in 1738. The oldest tombstone is 1773. The churchyard was repaired and enlarged by Louisa Mary Ann Tenison and consecrated by Roman Catholic Bishop of Ardagh in 1858. Gate and gateway also erected by Lady Louisa Tenison in 1858.