Graveyard, Corkbeg, Co. Cork

Co. Cork |

Burial Grounds

Graveyard, Corkbeg, Co. Cork

A graveyard on the south side of Whitegate Bay in east Cork contains, near its centre, a stone-walled enclosure with cut limestone entrance piers and a plaque that reads: "This Inclosure was Erected at the Desire of Robert Uniacke FitzGerald Esq.

as a place of Burial for him and his Posterity A.D.1778." The private burial enclosure, commissioned by a named individual for his family line, sits within a much older communal ground, giving the site an unusual layered quality, one man's act of proprietary planning set inside centuries of shared burial. The graveyard itself is roughly rectangular, around 70 metres north to south and 60 metres east to west, and remains in occasional use today.

The ground holds several distinct historical moments at once. At the north-east corner stand the ruins of the late medieval parish church of Corkbeg, a presence that anchors the site well before any of the dateable stonework. The earliest surviving headstones date from 1727, and among the nineteenth-century monuments, which are partially overgrown, there are two carvings of particular note. A stone dated 1758 bears intricately worked floriated tracery, a decorative style using stylised leaf and flower forms. An earlier plaque, likely from the first decades of the eighteenth century, is carved with the Instruments of the Passion, the objects associated with the crucifixion of Christ, a devotional motif with deep roots in Irish funerary carving. Both pieces have been removed from the site for safekeeping. The Uniacke FitzGerald family, who commissioned the central enclosure, lived at nearby Corkbeg House. A Church of Ireland church was built in the south-west corner of the graveyard in 1843 but has left no visible trace; a second Church of Ireland church, built just outside the southern boundary in 1881, still stands and remains in use.

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, Corkbeg, Co. Cork. 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