Grave Yard, Poulnalour, Co. Clare

Co. Clare |

Burial Grounds

Grave Yard, Poulnalour, Co. Clare

At the northern centre of an ecclesiastical enclosure near Poulnalour in County Clare, a small graveyard sits so overgrown and irregularly bounded that it barely announces itself as a burial ground at all.

Its most striking marker is a holed stone, the tallest of the poorly defined grave markers, positioned about three metres from the south-western edge. Holed stones in Irish ecclesiastical contexts often carried ritual or legal significance, and their presence at a grave site suggests a site of some age and local importance. The rough graves and headstones clustered in the south-western sector are the most visible signs of burial, while a small subcircular cairn, a modest mound of gathered stones, sits near the southern edge.

By the time the Ordnance Survey mapped the area in 1842, the site was already named simply "Grave Yard" on the six-inch map and shown as a subcircular walled enclosure. Later maps, the 1897 twenty-five-inch plan and the 1920 edition of the six-inch map, show it had shifted in outline to an elongated suboval with a broken perimeter, reflecting the gradual loss of its defining edges. That boundary today is a patchwork of different enclosing elements: a faintly traceable fosse, which is a shallow external ditch, running from north to north-east; an overgrown earthen bank along the eastern and south-western perimeter incorporating both original stonework and later loose additions; a single large facing-boulder at the eastern edge, now displaced from its original position; and four contiguous outer facing-stones at the south-west. The north-western quadrant, along with its enclosing element, appears to have been entirely removed at some point. A church occupies the western interior and edge of the graveyard, and large scattered stone blocks lie across the northern half. Approximately eight metres to the east-south-east, historic maps record the site of a friary, placing this graveyard within what was once a more substantial complex of religious structures.

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, Poulnalour, Co. Clare. 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