Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

In advance of redevelopment the site of St. Peter's Church (WA009-005023-) was completely excavated on behalf of Waterford Corporation. The church was excavated by A. Gittins (E000343), and A. Hayden (E000435; 1989) excavated the graveyard (WA009-005071-). A full description of the excavation (Hurley and McCutcheon 1997), and the skeletal remains has been published (Power 1997).

About sixty burials pre-date the construction of the first masonry church. The original graveyard extended S c. 10m from the wall of the first masonry church to a boundary trench, and has about 250 associated burials. About this time a small building (int. dims. 4.5m E-W; 4m N-S), probably the first in a series of 'priests houses' or 'sacristies', was added to the S wall of the chancel and apse.

During the third phase of the church's development from the mid 13th to the 17th century the graveyard was extended further S, and a total of 571 burials are associated with the graveyard and another 90 burials were found within the church. A further 28 burials from the graveyard and 33 from within the church, including four individuals from a stone-lined tomb against the N wall of the chancel, are associated with a mid-17th century building phase. The church was abandoned in the late 17th century, although all the walls were extant. The interior was still used as a burial ground and the N part of the church may have been used for burial throughout the 18th century as well.

In the late 18th century the remaining walls of the church were levelled, except the E chancel wall which survived into this century (Power 1916, 107). The graveyard was still in use in 1860, although it may have been closed by 1876 (Egan 1894, 516). About a third of this graveyard was excavated and 79 inhumations are recorded.

Egan, J. (1894) Waterford guide. Publisher unknown.
Hayden, A. (1989) Bakehouse Lane, Custom House Ward; Viking/medieval urban. in I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 1988: summary accounts of excavations in Ireland, 37-8, No. 63. Wordwell. Dublin.
Hurley, M. and McCutcheon, S. J. W. (1997) Section 7 (i) St Peter's Church and graveyard. in Hurley et al. (1997) Late Vikng age and medieval Waterford: excavations 1986-1992, 190-227. Waterford Corporation.
Power, C. (1997) Section 20 (1) Human skeletal remains. in Hurley et al. (1997) Late Vikng age and medieval Waterford: excavations 1986-1992, 762-817. Waterford Corporation.
Power, Rev. P. (1916) Random gleanings in diocesan history. 1. St. Patrick's church and parish. Catholic Record of Waterford and Lismore. Vol. 4, 65-7; 107-010; 148-51.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 03 March 2011