Graveyard

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in grassland with stream 90m to N. Killagh House and castle (WM013-107---) stands 150m to W with Killagh Corn Mill 170m to NW. Motte and bailey (WM020-024----) castle lies 60m to S. Poorly preserved remains consist of a rectangular church (WM020-025----) aligned NW-SE which formed N boundary of a graveyard depicted with a dotted outline on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map. On this map the graveyard is depicted as a small D-shaped area to the SW of the church. This graveyard is not depicted on any subsequent edition of the OS 6-inch maps. . A poorly preserved low earthen bank forms an arc to the S, possibly representing an enclosing element of this graveyard. Several memorials of 18th-19th century date are visible in the interior of the church ruins. Curvilinear earthworks to N, E and S of the church and graveyard are visible on Digital Globe aerial photograph. Some of these earthworks may be contemporaneous with the church while others may relate to post-medieval drainage works.
Killagh Church is depicted on the Down Survey map of Killagh parish where it is annotated as 'in repaire' and shown standing beside Killagh Castle and Mill (NLI MS 723-4). On this map the church is depicted as standing on lands belonging to George Nugent who is listed in 1641 as an 'Irish papist'. The terrier of this map recorded that 'There is in Killagh a Corne Mill a Tuck Mill a Ruined Church and, a Castle in Repaire' (ibid.).

Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 25 July 2018

References

NLI, MS 723-4 - National Library of Ireland, The parish maps of the Down Survey for the County of Westmeath, attested by W. Petty, in 1659. Copied by Daniel O'Brien. A set of 67 maps with accompanying terriers in two volumes, 1786-7. Dublin.