Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight rise of ground in the centre of Terryglass village. An early Christian monastery was founded in Terryglass by St Columb (Colum Mac Cremthainn) in the sixth century (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 45). Columb died around AD 552 (Ann. Inisf., AD 552). The church of Tirdaglassoe contributed three marks in the taxation of the diocese in 1302-7 (Cal. doc. Ire., 302). The Royal Visitation of 1615 described the church as having a 'covered chancell' (Murphy 1914, 221) but there is no mention of the church itself in the Civil Survey of 1654-6 where it only mentions the 'church yard of Tirraglasse' (Simington 1931, 311). According to local tradition the site of the monastery lies in the present church and graveyard (Carey and Farrelly 1994, 78). The ecclesiastical complex consists of a church (TN006-003003-), a graveyard (TN006-003008-) and a holy well (TN006-003005-), all of which are situated within a possible ecclesiastical enclosure. Also sited within this possible enclosure are a bawn wall (TN006-003004-) immediately E of the church and graveyard and a linear earthwork (TN006-003006-) to the N.
The church (TN006-003003-) lies in the N quadrant of a roughly rectangular graveyard (approx. int. dims. 57m N-S; 42m E-W) forming the N boundary wall of the graveyard immediately SE of the former St Columba's Protestant church. Only the N and W walls and the possible remains of the E wall survive albeit in a much modified form (Carey and Farrelly 1994, 79). The walls are constructed from roughly coursed rubble limestone some of which are cyclopean in appearance supported by an external plinth. In 1840 the church was in poor condition, only the pointed chancel arch survived as well as the N and W gable of the nave, the latter being surmounted by a belfry (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 2, 26-7). The W gable collapsed in the 1960s (Carey and Farrelly 1994, 80). A carved stone (TN006-003011-) now housed in the Hunt Museum, Limerick was found during demolition of the surrounding graveyard wall and may have been a voussoir or keystone of an arch from the eleventh/twelfth century church(Harbison 1967, 108-11).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien.

Date of upload: 22 September 2008

References

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Tipperary collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840. Bray.

Harbison, P. 1967 A decorated stone fragment from Terryglass, County Tipperary. North Munster Antiquarian Journal 10, 108-11.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1931 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol I: county of Tipperary: eastern and southern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Murphy, A.M. and Ormond, W. 1914 The Royal Visitation, 1615, Diocese of Killaloe. Archivium Hibernicum 3, 210-25.

Gwynn, A. and Hadcock, R.N. 1970 (Reprint 1988) Medieval religious houses of Ireland. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Ann. Inisf. - The Annals of Innisfallen (MS Rawlinson B 503), ed. and trans. Seán Mac Airt, (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1951)

Carey, H. and Farrelly, J. 1994 The urban archaeological survey County Tipperary North Riding. Unpublished report, Office of Public Works.

Cal. doc. Ire. - Calendar of documents relating to Ireland 1171-1307, ed. H.S. Sweetman (5 vols., London, 1875-86).