Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the SE side of St Finghin’s church (CL042-027003-) built c. 1278 by Thomas de Clare (Westropp 1900-2, 148). A roughly rectangular graveyard (39m NE-SW; 24m NW-SE) bounded by the church at NW and elsewhere by a modern stone wall. The external ground level is lower outside the graveyard wall at E (int. H 0.83m; ext. H 1.83m; Wth 0.65m). To S there is an even greater discrepancy in height (int. H 0.82m; ext. H 2.3m). Pre-development archaeological testing in 2008 (Licence no. E3921; Ruttle 2014, 12-18) located the probable original S boundary of the graveyard on the S side of this S wall at the lower level. Burials including skeletal remains of a person buried at the earliest in the 16th century were found in a roughly triangular area (10.2m x 8.9m x 7.3m). Boulders have been placed to mark the outline of the area and a plaque explaining this has been erected. Test trenching to the immediate N and E of St Finghin’s church (Carey 2003, 21, no. 89; Carey 2004, 51, no. 197; Licence no. 01E0573) uncovered disarticulated human bone and three skeletons oriented E-W. This may indicate that the medieval graveyard extended to this side. A curving field boundary to N and W c. 55m from the church, indicated on the OS 6-inch maps, shows St. Finghin's church centrally placed between that and the river Rine to the SE and may indicate the outline of the medieval precinct (CL042-027007-). The present graveyard boundary contains mainly 19th and 20th century burials and there is a mausoleum commemorating the Spaight family at NE. A later church is depicted and named 'St. Fineen's Church within this graveyard on the OS 1st edition 6-inch map and on the later editions. According to Ruttle (2014, 16) this was a Protestant church built next to St Finghin's in 1797. It was a small plain building with a low tower built by aid from the Board of First Fruits and was dismantled sometime after 1954 by the Board of Works. The church would have been attached to the S wall of the Spaight mausoleum and further remains are evident in the NE graveyard wall. The graveyard is accessed through a laneway at SW which originally lead directly to the later church.

The following images have been uploaded:
CL042-027004-_01.jpg Boulders outlining the S extent of the original graveyard. Modern graveyard wall behind with St. Finghin's church in the background.
CL042-027004-_02.jpg Plaque erected to explain boulder area.

Compiled by: Mary Tunney

Date of upload: 27 June 2018

References

Ruttle, E. 2014 Investigations at St. Finghin's Graveyard. The Other Clare 38, 12-18.

Carey, A. 2004 Quin Friary, Quin. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2002: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 51, No. 197. Dublin. Wordwell.

Carey, A. 2003 Quin Friary, Quin. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2001: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 21, No. 89. Dublin. Wordwell.

Westropp, T.J. 1900-02 The churches of Co. Clare and the origin of the ecclesiastical divisions in that county. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Series 3, vol. 6, 100-180.

Large, S. 2011 A church and graveyard survey in County Clare. Database and photographic record. Clare County Council. Clare Heritage Forum. The Heritage Council.