Graveyard, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork

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Burial Grounds

Graveyard, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork

At the northern edge of Carrigtohill village in east Cork, a roughly rectangular graveyard encloses what amounts to several centuries of overlapping religious life within a single walled space.

At its centre stand the partially roofed remains of a late medieval parish church, while a Church of Ireland building constructed in 1905 occupies the north-west corner. The two structures sit together without obvious tension, the older ruin and the newer building sharing the same ground as if each simply claimed what space was available.

The graveyard's southern side holds its oldest burials, and the headstones there have attracted scholarly attention over the years. A survey carried out by O Buachalla and Henchion in 1965 counted 233 stones, noting that all but a few were at least a century old at that time, with the oldest dated to 1704. Power, writing in 1918, recorded a stone from 1723, while the earliest inscribed headstone otherwise noted dates from 1767. Memorials to the Cotter and Dobson families survive on the west wall of the medieval church. Many headstones, including fragments, have been gathered into a pile to the west of the church tower, a common enough outcome when ground is repeatedly disturbed or stones become displaced over generations of use. The graveyard remains active, with a recent extension added to its northern side.

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