Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Kilconly Church (in ruins) and graveyard. This church is situated on gently sloping land. There is a graveyard surrounding and within the church. According to the old Irish calendar this church would appear to be dedicated to St Conla, whose feast day is on the 10th May.

In 2007 a graveyard survey carried out by Karen Buckley and Laurence Dunne recorded the following details: 'Situated at the bottom of a glen on sweeping road bends from both north and south, the graveyard lies immediately west of the road and just north of a single arched bridge. An unnamed stream flows immediately beyond the boundary on the southern side where it meanders towards, and eventually empties into, the Atlantic Ocean at Kilconly Point. The interior of the graveyard slopes steeply from north to south. The boundary walls and interior of the graveyard are well maintained and in a good state of preservation. The main area of the graveyard is bounded by a rubble sandstone wall with irregular coping with forward pointed sand and cement cap render visible between the stones. The graveyard extension is bounded by a modern concrete wall with a dashed render and modern concrete capping. Entrance to the graveyard is through an iron gate set between two gable capped stone piers or via a footstile (a single step on the exterior and two on the exterior) to the immediate south of the gate. A single tomb, unnamed, was recorded at Kilconly. This is abutting the southwestern corner of the ruined church. The vast majority of the named graves are of a modern construct and are located to the west of the church, within the extended area. A total of 175 named graves were recorded. The unnamed graves are composed of 18th and 19th century headstones from which the engraving has eroded, and recent graves which are without a headstone or the information card on the temporary metal cross has faded over time and is no longer legible. Seven unnamed headstones were recorded. The unhewn sandstone grave-markers are mainly located to the southeast and east of the church. The unhewn sandstone grave-markers are identifiable as a rubble stone or roughly rectangular stone completely devoid of any inscription or decoration. They are generally low set and rise above the ground surface for an average 0.3m. Occasionally, a distinguishing feature of these stones is a semi-circular concave shape cut into the stone, often at the top of the stone. A number of such distinctive unhewn stone was recorded at Kilconly. 108 unnamed gravemarkers were recorded' (Buckley and Dunne 2-5).

See attached photographs courtesy of Karen Buckley and Laurence Dunne

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 7 June 2022

References

Buckley, K. and Dunne L. 2007 Archaeological Survey, Kilconly Church & Graveyard, Ballybunnion, Co. Kerry. Unpublished report commissioned by the Heritage Office, Kerry County Council.

Toal, C. 1995 North Kerry Archaeological Survey. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority.