Graveyard, Ballynaclogh, Co. Limerick

Co. Limerick |

Burial Grounds

Graveyard, Ballynaclogh, Co. Limerick

The western half of this graveyard in County Limerick contains no graves at all.

That absence is itself informative. When the ground there was recently cleared back, it exposed a bare rock outcrop beneath, suggesting that whatever soil exists here was never deep enough for burial. The result is a curious split: one half of the enclosure is a working graveyard, the other a cleared limestone surface with nothing on it, both contained within the same mortared walls.

The site sits in pasture on a gentle east-facing slope, enclosed within a sub-rectangular area roughly 38 metres north to south and 47 metres east to west. The boundary is formed by mortared limestone walls on three sides, rising between 1.25 and 1.5 metres, with a stone-faced scarp running along the roadside to the east. Within the north-east quadrant, a slight internal scarp, about 1.9 metres wide and half a metre high, traces what may be the outline of an earlier, smaller enclosure predating the current arrangement. The remains of Ballynaclogh Church, a separate recorded monument, occupy the east quadrant, and it is here that the headstones are concentrated. The earliest legible stone is dated 1863, and burials continued into 2006, giving the site a relatively compact modern history even if the ecclesiastical remains beneath point to something considerably older. The Ordnance Survey six-inch map, with its characteristic plainness, labels it simply "Grave Yard".

Access is via a gateway or stone steps at the south-east corner, which brings you directly into the part of the enclosure where the church remains and headstones stand. The uneven interior repays a slow walk, particularly around the north-east quadrant where the slight ground-level change hinting at that earlier enclosure is easiest to read once you know to look for it. The cleared western section, with its exposed rock, is worth examining for what it reveals about the practicalities of burial ground selection in this part of Limerick, where the limestone is never far from the surface.

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 Graveyard, Ballynaclogh, Co. Limerick. 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