Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a rise. Reference to a graveyard here, now levelled (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 281). No visible surface remains.

Described by Carrigan as 'There was a very ancient church here. Its name was Kyleaderry, the Church of the Oak Grove. It stood within the Chapel Yard, an irregularly shaped area, half an acre in extent, surrounded by a rampart and fosse. The foundations of the church yet remain, and show it to have been an oblong building 58 ft. long and 31 ft. wide, the walls being about 3 ft. thick. The graveyard was was beside it to the south, has been obsolete for for so long a time that there are no appearances of headstones or graves. On the Ordnance Map the site of this church is marked "Site of R. C. Chapel". Two or three hundred yards to the west, there is a large enclosure surrounded by a stone wall, which was probably the site of some old building, perhaps a castle (LA034-016001-)' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 281)

Roughly rectangular shaped graveyard (int. dims. 93m N-S; 51m E-W) enclosed by a stone wall as indicated on current ed OS 6-inch map. Church in N quadrant of graveyard.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 17 December 2007