Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

On the S side of a lane and on the N side of Ballinafad Bay, overlooking Lough Arrow to the E. The original graveyard was a rectangular area (50m E-W; 38m N-S) enclosed by a stone wall. The E wall, as shown on the 1914 OS 6-inch map, has been removed and the graveyard has been extended eastwards. The entrance is in the N wall. The interior is engulfed in long grass, though the extension to E is well maintained. The ruin of the late medieval parish church of Aghanagh (SL040-17101-) stands in the centre and there is also a cross-inscribed boulder (SL040-17108-). There are numerous 19th- and 20th-century headstones and low uninscribed grave-markers around and inside the church. The grave (SL040-171003-) of Captain St Barbe of Ballinafad Castle (SL040-189---), who was interred here in 1622 or 1628 (OSNB vol. 1, 56), could not be located. A rectangular enclosure (SL040-141---) which, according to local information, was used as a children's burial ground (SL040-14101-), is immediately to the N, on the opposite side of the road.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008