Grave Yard, Killaloe, Co. Kilkenny

Co. Kilkenny |

Burial Grounds

Grave Yard, Killaloe, Co. Kilkenny

A small graveyard near Killaloe Bridge in County Kilkenny sits noticeably higher than the land around it, its interior raised by roughly a metre and a half above the surrounding ground level.

That elevation is not a quirk of landscaping. It is centuries of accumulated burial, the slow geological fact of the dead building up beneath the feet of the living. The enclosing stone wall, a wrought-iron double-leaf gate set between square stone piers, and a pedestrian stile are the only formal boundaries separating this compressed history from the public road that runs immediately alongside.

Beneath the dense cluster of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth-century headstones lies evidence of a much older sacred site. Two medieval graveslabs survive within the enclosure, flat carved stones of the kind used to mark individual graves in the early and later medieval periods, often decorated with crosses or other incised motifs. More striking still is the complete absence, at ground level, of the medieval church that once stood here. The building is recorded, but nothing of it now breaks the surface. It has been entirely swallowed, presumably robbed for stone over the centuries or simply buried beneath the rising floor of the graveyard itself. The site is rectangular, measuring roughly twenty metres north to south and forty-two metres east to west, which is a footprint consistent with a modest medieval parish enclosure.

The graveyard sits about fifty metres north of Killaloe Bridge and is accessible from the roadside gate. The two medieval graveslabs are the details most worth seeking out among the later headstones, quiet survivals from a phase of the site's use that has otherwise left almost nothing visible above ground.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Grave Yard, Killaloe, Co. Kilkenny. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement