Graveyard, Kilmastulla, Co. Tipperary

Co. Tipperary |

Burial Grounds

Graveyard, Kilmastulla, Co. Tipperary

At the graveyard of Kilmastulla in County Tipperary, the dead are arranged in two distinct communities, separated by several centuries and by the accident of what survives.

To the west of a ruined church site, rows of unmarked headstones run north to south in quiet, anonymous lines. Beside them, to the east, only the low wall-footings of the church itself remain above ground, the building long since reduced to a suggestion of its former outline.

The site sits on a low natural rise in a valley of undulating countryside, a modest elevation that nonetheless would have made it a logical focal point for a medieval parish. Its age is not in question: Kilmastulla was listed in the ecclesiastical taxation of the Diocese of Cashel in 1302, a survey compiled to assess church revenues across Ireland at the time. That single reference places this now-quiet graveyard within a functioning ecclesiastical network at the turn of the fourteenth century. The church whose footings remain visible in the eastern sector of the graveyard would have served that community, though when exactly it fell out of use is not recorded. The eighteenth and nineteenth-century headstones, enclosed by a modern sandstone wall, represent a later phase of burial that continued long after the church itself was gone.

In recent times, topsoil around the church site has been cleared away, and a footpath has been laid to the west of the footings. The effect is to make the architectural remains more legible, though it also means the site now carries the slightly contrasting quality of a place caught between careful preservation and the long, quiet continuity of use that has defined it for over seven hundred years.

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, Kilmastulla, Co. Tipperary. 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