Graveyard, Lemonfield, Co. Limerick

Co. Limerick |

Burial Grounds

Graveyard, Lemonfield, Co. Limerick

At Lemonfield in County Limerick, a graveyard continues to receive the occasional burial despite being built around the ruins of a much older church, one of whose walls now incorporates a grave directly into its fabric.

It is an unusual arrangement, quietly matter-of-fact in the way rural Irish sacred sites often are, where the living and the long-dead share ground without ceremony or explanation.

The site sits on a gentle rise, partly sheltered by mature woodland, with pasture opening out to the south. Its sub-rectangular enclosure measures roughly 80 metres north to south and 40 metres east to west, bounded by a barbed wire fence rather than the cut-stone walls more commonly associated with older burial grounds in the region. The church ruins occupy the northern quadrant of the graveyard and carry the record reference LI013-080001-, suggesting formal archaeological recognition. By 1924, when the Ordnance Survey six-inch map recorded the site simply as "G. Yd.", the church had presumably already been in ruin for some time, its precise origins unrecorded in the available notes. The headstones that remain visible today date to the twentieth century, meaning whatever earlier memorial markers may once have stood here are gone, leaving the church wall itself as the oldest legible feature.

The graveyard is still in infrequent use, which means it retains an active, if quiet, status, and visitors should approach with that in mind. The grave built into the eastern wall of the church is the detail worth seeking out; it speaks to a long Irish practice of placing burials as close as possible to consecrated masonry, in the belief that proximity to a church offered spiritual protection. The woodland surrounding part of the site filters light across the enclosure depending on the season, and the southward view over open pasture gives the rise a sense of openness that contrasts with the overgrown character of the ruins themselves.

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, Lemonfield, 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