Historic Buildings Record · Northern Ireland
Kilcarn cemetery,
Kilcarn, Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland
The record
- Designation
- Record only (not listed)
- Grade
- Record Only
- Type
- Graveyard
- Date of construction
- Pre 1600
- Address
- Kilcarn cemetery,, Drumreagh Road,, Kilcarn,, Ballygowan,, Co. Down, BT23 6LA
- Townland
- Kilcarn
- Council
- Ards and North Down
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Coordinates
- 54.47208, -5.75482
- Date of survey
- 19 January 1999
- HB reference
- HB24/16/047
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1636 "Vltoniae Orientalis Pars" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
The Department's description
Exterior description and setting
Small cemetery on the W side of the Drumreagh Road (near the junction with the Kilcarn Road), c.2.5 miles SE of Ballygowan.
The plot is roughly rectangular in plan measuring c.60m x 40m and is surrounded by a low rubble wall which is partly covered in greenery. The headstones date from at least 1757 onwards, though some largely indecipherable stones may be earlier.
Historical information
This cemetery is said to stand on the site of a medieval church. In more recent centuries it has been used for Catholic burials in the Saintfield parish. The oldest headstone appears to be that of a Patrick Loughlin which dates from 1757, however there are some badly worn stones which may be earlier.
In recent years the graveyard at near by Carrickmannan church has superseded Kilcarn as the main burial ground within the area.
References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS map 1st ed. 1834 Down 16.
2 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), pp. 37, 39.
3 PRONI MIC 1D/63 Records of Carrickmannan Church.
4 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858-60 Down 16.
5 George Henry Basset ‘Co. Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886), p.281.
6 EHS OS map 186-2 (1:2500) 1974.
Secondary sources
1 R.S.J. Clarke ‘Gravestone Inscriptions…Vol.5’ (UHF 1970), pp.90-95.
Criteria for listing: architectural interest
Not listed
Criteria for listing: historic interest
Not listed
Evaluation
Small rural cemetery, believed to be on the site of a medieval church, with headstones dating from 1757 at least.
Nearby in the register
- Capel Bridge,Bridgeunder 1 mi
- Former mill,Outbuildingsunder 1 mi
- 60 Kilcarn RoadHouseunder 1 mi
- 104 Carrickmannon Road,Houseunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.