Grave Yard, Churchtown, Co. Wexford
Co. Wexford |
Burial Grounds
Most graveyards are roughly rectangular, following the practical logic of land division and the geometry of the plots within.
The churchyard at Churchtown, near Rosslare in County Wexford, takes a different shape entirely. Its boundary traces a pentagon, an unusual form that hints at an older, perhaps more organic logic governing how sacred ground was once marked out and enclosed.
The parish church of Rosslare sits within this five-sided enclosure, which measures approximately 60 metres east to west and 45 metres north to south. The graveyard occupies a slight rise in an otherwise low-lying, gently rolling landscape, a positioning common to early ecclesiastical sites in Ireland, where elevation carried both practical and symbolic significance. The boundary itself is defined by an earthen bank, with masonry walling present in places, suggesting layers of construction and repair across different periods. Such a combination, an earthen bank as the core with stone added later, is typical of enclosures with early medieval origins that continued in use long after their founding.
The site sits roughly 120 metres west of the R736 road between Tagoat and Rosslare Strand, reached by a lane. The pentagonal outline is most legible from the boundary itself, where the changes in direction of the bank and wall can be followed on foot.