Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Roughly rectangular-shaped graveyard situated on the east side of Croghan Hill just below the summit. Burial mound (OF010-004001-) on summit of Croghan Hill located 175m to the W. Interior of graveyard slopes downward on the E side. It is no longer used for burials and there is no surface evidence of the church (OF010-004002-) marked on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map as Bishop 'Mac Caille's Church'. On this map the church building is shown located on the inside of the NW corner of the graveyard wall. According to the 1934 National Schools Survey of Holy Wells this graveyard wall was built in the 1860s (National Folklore Dept. UCD, NFC-468, 135). During the digging of the foundations for this graveyard wall the mason employed came across the foundations of a building which he believed to be the remains of Bishop Mac Caille's Church (NFC 468, 135).
Many of the headstones in the garveyard are illegible due to weathering as the graveyard is in a very exposed location. The gravestones are positioned in a haphazard manner and the graveyard itself is badly overgrown. However locals informed us that when they were digging graves in the centre of the graveyard they came across the foundations of a building which may have been the church.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload/revision: 18 December 2013

References

ASIAP - Archaeological Survey of Ireland Aerial Photographs (c. 1996 - c. 2010).