Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Ratass graveyard surveyed in 2012 by Laurence Dunne and was described as following; 'Ratass Graveyard is situated on the north side of the N21/22 road on eastern limits of Tralee town. The church [KE029-157001-] and graveyard complex at Ratass, (An Ráth Theas / the Southern Fort) from which the area is still known today, is an Early Ecclesiastical foundation. In early literary annalistic sources, Ratass is known as Ráth Muighe Deiscirt - Fort of the Southern Plain (O’Donovan 1841, 59). The ecclesiastical site at Ratass was founded possibly in the 7th or 8th century AD based on the morphology of the church and the presence of an ogham stone and cross-slab presently located within the building (Barrington 1976, 224; Leask 1977 69; Harbison 1974). Rebuilding and modification of the church took place during the Romanesque period with the addition of a chancel (Barrington 1976, 224; Bradley 1995, 172). The site is a National Monument in State ownership (Nat. Mon. No. 57). There are two major aspects to Ratass-the ancient and the modern. The modern graveyard was formally planned by Tralee Town Council and typically laid out in formal blocks and rows that have become denser in occupancy in more recent times. It has exponentially expanded along the main road into Tralee mirroring the massive expansion of Tralee itself. The expansion of the graveyard is best and simply exemplified by examination of historic cartography and aerial photography. Of particular importance is a blow-up extract from an Air Corps aerial photography taken. This low altitude fixed wing vertical image taken in May 1949 clearly shows Ratass Graveyard as a rectangular graveyard surrounded by fields and expanding westwards to Tralee and including several new burial blocks as yet unoccupied but set out.
Within the south-eastern limits of Ratass graveyard are the relict upstanding remains of one of the finest early medieval churches in the country. The church is a National Monument in State ownership. The ruined church is situated in Block Z of the graveyard which is also the oldest area of the entire cemetery complex. This ancient burial ground area contains all the different historic burial types including above ground tombs and a myriad number of different period headstones. A total of one hundred and five, tombs were surveyed in Ratass Graveyard virtually all of which are situated in the oldest section of Ratass at the south-east. Several types of tombs are represented including, chest, box and strong-box varieties. A total of five thousand and ninety-seven (5097) headstones were recorded in Ratass graveyard making it the largest in County Kerry. There are several historic wrought or cast iron crosses in Ratass graveyard. There are seven (7) horizontal rectangular graveslabs or ledgers in Ratass Graveyard (Dunne 2012, 1-14).

See attached plans and photographs courtesy of Laurence Dunne

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 29 April 2022

References

Dunne, L. 2012 Archaeological GPS Survey, Ratass Graveyard, Tralee, Co. Kerry. Unpublished report for The Heritage Office, Kerry County Council (SMR file).